Melanodryas

Melanodryas
Hooded robin (Melanodryas cucullata)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Petroicidae
Genus:	Melanodryas Gould, 1865
Type species
Muscicapa cucullata [1] Latham, 1801
Species
7; see text
Synonyms
Peneothello Mathews, 1920

Melanodryas is a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae. These species are found in New Guinea and Australia.

The genus was introduced by the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould in 1865 with Muscicapa cucullata Latham, the hooded robin, as the type species. ^{[2] [3]} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek melanos "black" with dryad "tree-nymph". ^[4]

Species

The genus contains the following seven species: ^[5]

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Dusky robin	Melanodryas vittata	Tasmania and Bass Strait islands (southeast Australia)
	Hooded robin	Melanodryas cucullata	Australia (except far north and Tasmania)
	White-rumped robin	Melanodryas bimaculata	New Guinea
	Mangrove robin	Melanodryas pulverulenta	coastal New Guinea and north Australia
	White-winged robin	Melanodryas sigillata	montane central, east New Guinea
	Slaty robin	Melanodryas cyanus	montane New Guinea
	Smoky robin	Melanodryas cryptoleuca	montane west New Guinea

References

1. "Pectroicidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
2. Gould, John (1865). Handbook to the Birds of Australia. Vol. 1. London: Self-published. p. 283.
3. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 562.
4. Jobling, J.A. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Melanodryas". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive: Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
5. AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi: 10.2173/avilist.v2025 . Retrieved 12 November 2025.