''Melaenornis'' is a genus of small passerine birds in the large family Muscicapidae commonly known as the Old World flycatchers. They are restricted to

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Melaenornis'' was introduced in 1840 by the English zoologist George Gray. It was a replacement name for ''Melasoma'' that had been introduced in 1837 by William Swainson with the

northern black flycatcher The northern black flycatcher (''Melaenornis edolioides'') is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Range This is an insectivorous species which is a resident breeder in tropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and so ...

as the type species. ''Melasoma'' was pre-occupied by "''Melasoma'' Dillwyn" that had been introduced in 1831 by James Stephens for a genus of insects. The name ''Melaenornis'' combines the Ancient Greek ''melas'', ''melaina'' meaning "black" with ''ornis'' meaning "bird".

Species

The genus contains the following seven species: *

Angola slaty flycatcher The Angola slaty flycatcher (''Melaenornis brunneus'') is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is sometimes placed in the genus '' Dioptrornis'' instead of ''Melaenornis''. As suggested by its common name, it is ende ...

, ''Melaenornis brunneus'' * White-eyed slaty flycatcher, ''Melaenornis fischeri'' * Abyssinian slaty flycatcher, ''Melaenornis chocolatinus'' *

Nimba flycatcher The Nimba flycatcher (''Melaenornis annamarulae'') is a small passerine bird of the genus '' Melaenornis'' in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is native to the West African countries of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra ...

, ''Melaenornis annamarulae'' *

Yellow-eyed black flycatcher The yellow-eyed black flycatcher (''Melaenornis ardesiacus'') is a small passerine bird of the genus ''Melaenornis'' in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae native to the Albertine Rift montane forests The Albertine Rift montane forests is a t ...

, ''Melaenornis ardesiacus'' *

Northern black flycatcher The northern black flycatcher (''Melaenornis edolioides'') is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Range This is an insectivorous species which is a resident breeder in tropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and so ...

, ''Melaenornis edolioides'' *

Southern black flycatcher The southern black flycatcher (''Melaenornis pammelaina'') is a small passerine bird of the genus ''Melaenornis'' in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae, native to open and lightly wooded areas of eastern and southern Africa. This species has ...

, ''Melaenornis pammelaina'' This genus formerly included fewer species. The results of a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2010 led to a reorganization of the Old World flycatchers family in which the four species in ''Bradornis'' and the single species in ''Sigelus'' were merged into ''Melaenornis''. The genus formerly included the

pale flycatcher The pale flycatcher (''Melaenornis pallidus'') is a passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Taxonomy The pale flycatcher was previously placed in the genus ''Bradornis'' but was moved to ''Mel ...

and the

chat flycatcher The chat flycatcher (''Agricola infuscatus'') is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that is native to southern Africa. Taxonomy The chat flycatcher was previously placed in the genus ''Bradornis'' but was mov ...

. Based on a phylogenetic study published in 2023, they were moved to the resurrected genus '' Agricola''.

Taxonomy

Species

References

Further reading