The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycatchers. Thrushes are small to medium-sized ground living birds that feed on insects, other invertebrates, and fruit. Some unrelated species around the world have been named after thrushes due to their similarity to birds in this family.
The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. This is an Old World group, but the northern wheatear has established a foothold in eastern Canada and Greenland and in western Canada and Alaska.
The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World, with the exception of several vagrants and two species, bluethroat and northern wheatear, found also in North America. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing. The family is relatively large and includes 351 species, which are divided into 54 genera.
The cochoas are medium-sized frugivorous, insectivorous and molluscivorous birds in the genus Cochoa. Their bright contrasting plumage patterns, sexual dimorphism and feeding habits made their systematic position difficult to ascertain in early times, Richard Bowdler Sharpe placed them with the Prionopidae in 1879 while many considered them as some kind of aberrant thrush. The genus was previously included in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae but molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that it is more closely related to the thrush family Turdidae.
Brachypteryx is a genus of passerine birds in the family Muscicapidae containing ten species known as shortwings, that occurs in southeast Asia.
The mountain wheatear or mountain chat is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to southwestern Africa.
Melaenornis is a genus of small passerine birds in the large family Muscicapidae commonly known as the Old World flycatchers. They are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa.
Muscicapa is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and therein to the typical flycatchers of subfamily Muscicapinae. They are widespread across Europe, Africa and Asia with most species occurring in forest and woodland habitats. Several species are migratory, moving south from Europe and northern Asia for the winter.
The chat flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that is native to southern Africa.
The Marico flycatcher or Mariqua flycatcher is a passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that is found in areas of southern Africa.
The African grey flycatcher, grayish flycatcher, or large flycatcher is a passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that occurs in parts of East Africa.
The pale flycatcher is a passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The white-capped redstart or white-capped water redstart is a passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae native to the Indian Subcontinent,Southeast Asia, much of China, and to certain regions of Central Asia.
Eumyias is a genus of birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
The white-fronted black chat is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are moist savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
Phoenicurus is a genus of passerine birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. They are named redstarts from their orange-red tails. They are small insectivores, the males mostly brightly coloured in various combinations of red, blue, white, and black, the females light brown with a red tail. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 led to a reorganization of the Old World flycatchers family in which the two species in Rhyacornis and the single species in Chaimarrornis were merged into Phoenicurus.
The grey-chested jungle flycatcher is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The rufous-tailed shama is a species of passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found in extreme southern Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The Angola cave chat is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is the sole member of the monotypic genus Xenocopsychus; although it was placed in Cossypha between 2010 and 2022 based on the results of a 2010 molecular phylogenetic study, this placement was found to be an error. It occurs locally from western Angola to marginally south of the Kunene River in northern Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky places in moist to dry savanna. It was previously described as being Near threatened, but has since been downgraded to Least concern.
Chamaetylas is a genus of small, mainly insectivorous birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that are native to sub-Saharan Africa.
