Phoenicurus
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 ('start' is an old name for a tail). 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.[2] 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.[3][4]
| Phoenicurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Subfamily: | Saxicolinae |
| Genus: | Phoenicurus Forster, T, 1817 |
| Type species | |
| Phoenicurus ruticilla[1] = Motacilla phoenicurus T. Forster, 1817 | |
The genus Phoenicurus was introduced by the English naturalist Thomas Forster in 1817.[5] The type species (by tautonymy) is the common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus).[6] The name Phoenicurus is from Ancient Greek φοινιξ (phoinix), "(Phoenician) crimson/purple" (see also Tyrian purple), and ουροσ (-ouros) -"tailed".[7]
The genus contains the following species:[4]
- Przevalski's redstart (Phoenicurus alaschanicus)
- Eversmann's redstart (Phoenicurus erythronotus)
- Blue-capped redstart (Phoenicurus coeruleocephala)
- Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
- Common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
- Hodgson's redstart (Phoenicurus hodgsoni)
- White-throated redstart (Phoenicurus schisticeps)
- Daurian redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus)
- Moussier's redstart (Phoenicurus moussieri)
- Güldenstädt's redstart (Phoenicurus erythrogastrus)
- Blue-fronted redstart (Phoenicurus frontalis)
- Plumbeous water redstart (Phoenicurus fuliginosus) (previously in the genus Rhyacornis)
- Luzon water redstart (Phoenicurus bicolor) (previously in the genus Rhyacornis)
- White-capped redstart (Phoenicurus leucocephalus) (previously in the monotypic genus Chaimarrornis)
Fossil record
References
- "Muscicapidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- Collar, N.J. (2005). "Phoenicurus". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 769–773. ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6.
- 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. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID 20656044.
- Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". World Bird List Version 6.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- Forster, Thomas (1817). A Synoptical Catalogue of British Birds. London: Nichols, Son, and Bentley. p. 53.
- Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 74.
- Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 304. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4..
- Kessler, E. (2013). "Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary". Hantkeniana. 8: 37–149.
Further reading
- Voelker, G.; Semenov, G.; Fadeev, I.V.; Blick, A.; Drovetski, S.V. (2015). "The biogeographic history of Phoenicurus redstarts reveals an allopatric mode of speciation and an out-of-Himalayas colonization pattern". Systematics and Biodiversity. 13 (3): 296–305. doi:10.1080/14772000.2014.992380. S2CID 85340881.