Brachypteryx

Brachypteryx
White-browed shortwing, (Brachypteryx montana)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Subfamily:	Saxicolinae
Genus:	Brachypteryx Horsfield, 1821
Type species
Brachypteryx montana [1] Horsfield, 1821

Brachypteryx is a genus of passerine birds in the family Muscicapidae containing ten species known as shortwings, that occurs in southeast Asia.

Shortwings are small birds with long legs, finely pointed bills, short tails and short rounded wings. They are shy elusive ground-dwellers that generally prefer the cover of dense undergrowth. ^[2]

The genus Brachypteryx was introduced by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1821. ^[3] The word comes from the classical Greek brakhus mean "short" and pterux meaning "wing". ^[4] The genus was previously placed in the thrush family Turdidae but in 2010 two separate molecular phylogenetic studies found that species in the genus were more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. ^{[5] [6]}

The genus contains the following ten species: ^[7]

Image	Common Name	Scientific Name	Distribution
	Himalayan shortwing	Brachypteryx cruralis	eastern Himalayas, southern China and Indochina
	Chinese shortwing	Brachypteryx sinensis	South China
	Taiwan shortwing	Brachypteryx goodfellowi	Taiwan
	Rusty-bellied shortwing	Brachypteryx hyperythra	Sikkim, Northeast-India and Yunnan
	Lesser shortwing	Brachypteryx leucophris	Eastern Himalaya, southern China and Southeast Asia
	Philippine shortwing	Brachypteryx poliogyna	Philippines
-	Bornean shortwing	Brachypteryx erythrogyna	montane Borneo
-	Sumatran shortwing	Brachypteryx salturata	montane Sumatra
	Javan shortwing	Brachypteryx montana	montane Java
-	Flores shortwing	Brachypteryx floris	Flores

Whilst the Javan and rusty-bellied shortwings show strong sexual plumage dimorphism, the lesser shortwing is sexually monomorphic.

Three other species were formerly placed in Brachypteryx:

• Great shortwing, Heinrichia calligyna
• Nilgiri blue robin or Nilgiri shortwing Myiomela major
• Gould's shortwing, Heteroxenicus stellata

References

1. "Muscicapidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
2. Clement, Peter (2016). Robins and Chats. Helm Identification Guides. London: Bloomsbury. p. 182. ISBN   978-1-4081-5596-7.
3. Horsfield, Thomas (1821). "Systematic arrangement and description of birds from the island of Java". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (in Latin and English). 13 (1): 133–200 [157]. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1821.tb00061.x. The paper was first read in April 1820. The title page is dated 1822.
4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  76. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
5. Sangster, G.; Alström, P.; Forsmark, E.; Olsson, U. (2010). "Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57 (1): 380–392. Bibcode:2010MolPE..57..380S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID   20656044.
6. Zuccon, D.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2010). "A multi-gene phylogeny disentangles the chat-flycatcher complex (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Zoologica Scripta. 39 (3): 213–224. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2010.00423.x. S2CID   85963319.
7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 February 2023.