Chats are a group of small Old World insectivorous birds formerly classified as members of the thrush family (Turdidae), but following genetic DNA analysis, are now considered to belong to the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae).
The common redstart, or often simply redstart, is a small passerine bird in the genus Phoenicurus. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, (Turdidae), but is now known to be an Old World flycatcher.
The black redstart is a small passerine bird in the genus Phoenicurus. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now known to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). Obsolete common names include Tithys redstart, blackstart and black redtail.
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 western subalpine warbler is a small typical warbler which breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe and north-western Africa.
Moussier's redstart is a small passerine bird in the genus Phoenicurus (redstarts), formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now classified as an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). It is an endemic resident breeder in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa. Its habitat is open woodland in rocky areas from sea level up to 3000 m altitude in the mountains.
The eastern subalpine warbler is a small typical warbler which breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe. It was first described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Motacilla cantillans. The specific cantillans is Latin for "warbling" from canere, "to sing".
Hadoram Shirihai is an Israeli ornithologist and writer.
Luscinia is a genus of smallish passerine birds, containing the nightingales and relatives. Formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, they are now considered to be Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) of the chat subfamily (Saxicolinae). The chats are a lineage of Old World flycatchers that has evolved convergently to thrushes.
The imperial shag or imperial cormorant is a black and white cormorant native to southern South America, primarily in rocky coastal regions, but locally also at large inland lakes. Some taxonomic authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union, place it in the genus Leucocarbo, others in the genus Phalacrocorax. It is also known as the blue-eyed shag, blue-eyed cormorant and by many other names, and is one of a larger group of cormorants called blue-eyed shags. The taxonomy is very complex, and several former subspecies are often considered separate species.
The Arabian warbler, also known as Red Sea warbler or Blandford's warbler, is a species of Old World warbler in the family Sylviidae. It is found in Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Its natural habitat is dry savanna country where it is often found in patches of Acacia.
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.
Güldenstädt's redstart also sometimes called the white-winged redstart, is a species of bird in the genus Phoenicurus, family Muscicapidae. It is found in the high mountains of the southwestern and central Palearctic in the Caucasus, Karakoram, Pamir, Himalaya, Tian Shan, and Altai, in the countries of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, China, Georgia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Tarsiger is a genus of six species of birds in the family Muscicapidae. They are small, mostly brightly coloured insectivorous birds native to Asia and northeastern Europe; four of the six species are confined to the Sino-Himalayan mountain system. The genus has sometimes been included within the related genus Luscinia, but the species have been found to form a distinct monophyletic group.
The white-browed bush robin is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found from the Himalayas to south-central China and Taiwan. Its natural habitat is Rhododendron and conifer forests.
The red-tailed wheatear, also known as the rusty-tailed wheatear, Persian wheatear or Afghan wheatear, is a small passerine bird breeding in mountainous areas of south-west and central Asia. It belongs to the wheatear genus Oenanthe which was formerly placed in the thrush family Turdidae but is now in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The red-tailed wheatear used to be considered a subspecies of the Kurdish wheatear but is now often regarded as a separate species.
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide by Pamela C. Rasmussen and John C. Anderton is a two-volume ornithological handbook, covering the birds of South Asia, published in 2005 by the Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. The geographical scope of the book covers India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, the Chagos Archipelago and Afghanistan. In total, 1508 species are covered. Two notable aspects of Birds of South Asia are its distribution evidence-base — the book's authors based their distributional information almost completely on museum specimens — and its taxonomic approach, involving a large number of species-level splits.
The Himalayan bluetail, also called the Himalayan red-flanked bush-robin or orange-flanked bush-robin, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher of Muscicapidae. While currently under review, this taxon is not current recognized as a species by BirdLife international.
The Qilian bluetail is a small passerine bird of Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It is distributed in north-central China, was described by Wilhelm Meise as a subspecies of the red-flanked bluetail in 1937. The subspecies was previously considered invalid, until recognized by Hadoram Shirihai and Lars Svensson in 2018, and it was proposed to be a full species in a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022. It is distinctive in genetics and vocalisation, but only marginally different in morphology. The males have bluer fore-supercilium, and less white than in red-flanked bluetail.
