Muscicapa | |
---|---|
Spotted flycatcher (M. striata) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Genus: | Muscicapa Brisson, 1760 |
Type species | |
Motacilla striata Pallas, 1764 | |
Species | |
see text |
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. [1]
They are small birds, 9 to 15 cm (3.5 to 5.9 in) in length. They have a large head, short tail and a flattened bill, broader at the base. Their plumage is mostly drab brown or grey and rather plain. Young birds tend to be more spotted or mottled. [1]
Muscicapa flycatchers typically feed on flying insects which are caught by sallying out from an exposed perch. The nest is usually cup-shaped and built on a tree branch but some African species nest in tree holes. [1]
The genus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) as the type species. [2] [3] The word Muscicapa comes from the Latin musca, a fly and capere, to catch. [4]
In 2010 two large molecular phylogenetic studies of species within Muscicapidae showed that Muscicapa was non-monophyletic. The authors were unable to propose a revised genus as not all the species were sampled. [5] [6] A subsequent study published in 2016 included 37 of the 42 Muscicapini species. It confirmed that Muscicapa was non-monophyletic and proposed a reorganised arrangement with several new or resurrected genera. [7]
There are 17 extant species of Muscicapa flycatchers: [8]
Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Grey-streaked flycatcher | Muscicapa griseisticta | Manchuria and Kamchatka ; winters in Southeast Asia | |
Dark-sided flycatcher | Muscicapa sibirica | Asia | |
Ferruginous flycatcher | Muscicapa ferruginea | Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, India, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. | |
Brown-breasted flycatcher | Muscicapa muttui | north eastern India, central and Southern China and northern Burma, Thailand and Vietnam, and migrates to southern India and Sri Lanka. | |
Ashy-breasted flycatcher | Muscicapa randi | Philippines | |
Sumba brown flycatcher | Muscicapa segregata | Indonesia | |
Asian brown flycatcher | Muscicapa dauurica [9] [10] | Japan, eastern Siberia,southern India, Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and Vietnam, and the Himalayas | |
Brown-streaked flycatcher | Muscicapa williamsoni | southern Myanmar, southern Thailand, northern peninsular Malaysia, and northeast Borneo | |
Sulawesi streaked flycatcher | Muscicapa sodhii | Sulawesi | |
Yellow-footed flycatcher | Muscicapa sethsmithi | African tropical rainforest | |
Little grey flycatcher | Muscicapa epulata | African tropical rainforest | |
African dusky flycatcher | Muscicapa adusta | elevated areas of Sub-Saharan Africa | |
Spotted flycatcher | Muscicapa striata | Mediterranean and Europe to Central Asia, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa | |
Mediterranean flycatcher | Muscicapa tyrrhenica | the Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa | |
Gambaga flycatcher | Muscicapa gambagae | Sudan (region) and Arabian Highlands | |
Cassin's flycatcher | Muscicapa cassini | African tropical rainforest | |
Swamp flycatcher | Muscicapa aquatica | Sudan (region) and south towards Zambia | |
There are at least three fossil species which are included in this genus:
Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Muscicapa:
The Asian brown flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The word Muscicapa comes from the Latin musca, a fly and capere, to catch. The specific dauurica refers to Dauria, an area of south-eastern Siberia named after a local nomadic tribe.
The paradise flycatchers (Terpsiphone) are a genus of birds in the family Monarchidae. The genus ranges across Africa and Asia, as well as a number of islands. A few species are migratory, but the majority are resident. The most telling characteristic of the genus is the long tail streamers of the males of many species. In addition to the long tails the males and females are sexually dimorphic and have rufous, black and white plumage.
The Ficedula flycatchers are a genus of Old World flycatchers. The genus is the largest in the family, containing around thirty species. They have sometimes been included in the genus Muscicapa. The genus is found in Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species are highly migratory, whereas other species are sedentary.
The rusty-tailed flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found mainly in the northern regions of the Indian Subcontinent and some parts of southwest India, as well as pockets of Central Asia including Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The species is partially migratory, with the Central Asian populations migrating to India, as far as the southwest Indian coast along the Arabian Sea, to Karnataka and Kerala.
Pachycephala is a genus of birds native to Oceania and Southeast Asia. They are commonly known as typical whistlers. Older guidebooks may refer to them as thickheads, a literal translation of the generic name, which is derived from the Ancient Greek terms pachys "thick" + kephale "head". This lineage originated in Australo-Papua and later colonized the Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos to the west and the Pacific archipelagos to the east.
Eopsaltria is a genus of small forest passerines known in Australia as the yellow robins. They belong to the Australasian robin family Petroicidae. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek for "dawn singer/song" because of their dawn chorus. They are inquisitive and bold birds, and have been reported perching on the shoulders or boots of people in the bush. Open eucalyptus woodlands are their preferred habitat. The ornithologist John Gould likened the behaviour and mannerisms of the eastern and western yellow robin to those of the European robin. The name "yellow robin" itself was applied to the eastern yellow robin by the early settlers of New South Wales.
Drymophila is a bird genus in the antbird family (Thamnophilidae). It is a relative of the typical antwrens.
Criniger is a genus of songbirds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. The species of Criniger are found in western and central Africa.
Hypsipetes is a genus of bulbuls, songbirds in the family Pycnonotidae. Most of its species occur in tropical forests around the Indian Ocean. But while the genus is quite diverse in the Madagascar region at the western end of its range it does not reach the African mainland.
Ixos is a genus of passerine birds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae.
Pycnonotus is a genus of frugivorous passerine birds in the bulbul family Pycnonotidae.
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A shrikethrush, also spelled shrike-thrush, is any one of eleven species of songbird that is a member of the genus Colluricincla. They have nondescript, predominantly brown or grey, plumage, but are accomplished singers, their calls described as "strong, mellow and beautiful." Shrikethrushes are generally insectivorous, though have been recorded eating molluscs and berries. They build cup-shaped nests in the forks of trees.
Monarcha is a genus of bird in the family Monarchidae. They are found in Australia and Melanesia.
Myiagra is a genus of passerine birds in the family Monarchidae, the monarch flycatchers, native to Australasia, sometimes referred to as the broad-billed flycatchers or simply broadbills.
Poecilodryas is a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae.
Pomarea is a genus of birds in the monarch flycatcher family Monarchidae. The genus is restricted to the islands of Polynesia. The monarchs of this genus are around 15–19 cm long and most have sexually dimorphic plumage.
The shrike-babblers are a group of small birds in the genus Pteruthius. They are native to the Indomalayan realm, and were traditionally placed in the family Timaliidae before molecular phylogenetic studies in 2007 found that they were best considered as belonging to the family Vireonidae which was then thought to be restricted to the New World. They were traditionally classified into five species with several subspecies but changes in the status of these species on the basis of the phylogenetic species concept suggest more forms in a cryptic species complex. Most species are found in montane forests, with some species descending down to lower altitudes during the winter.
Iole is a genus of songbirds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. They are native to tropical eastern Asia, from India to China and south through Southeast Asia to northern Indonesia.
Pitohui is a genus of birds endemic to New Guinea. The birds formerly lumped together as pitohuis were found by a 2008 study that examined their evolutionary history on the basis of the genetic sequences to have included birds that were quite unrelated to each other. They have since been separated into other genera.