''Muscicapa'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

belonging to the

Old World flycatcher The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Norther ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Muscicapidae, and therein to the typical flycatchers of

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Muscicapinae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Norther ...

. They are widespread across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

with most species occurring in

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

habitats. Several species are migratory, moving south from Europe and northern Asia for the winter.Sinclair ''et al.'' (2003), Perrins (2004), del Hoyo ''et al.'' (2006) They are small birds, in length. They have a large head, short tail and a flattened

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, broader at the base. Their

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is mostly drab brown or grey and rather plain. Young birds tend to be more spotted or mottled. ''Muscicapa'' flycatchers typically feed on flying

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s which are caught by sallying out from an exposed perch. The

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

is usually cup-shaped and built on a tree branch but some African species nest in tree holes.

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus was introduced by the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...

in 1760 with the

spotted flycatcher The spotted flycatcher (''Muscicapa striata'') is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa and south western Asia. It is decli ...

(''Muscicapa striata'') as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. The word ''Muscicapa'' comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''musca'', a fly and ''capere'', to catch. In 2010 two large

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 ...

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. 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.

Extant species

There are 26 extant

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of ''Muscicapa'' flycatchers:

Extinct species

There are at least two fossil species which are included in this genus: * †''Muscicapa miklosi'' (Late Miocene of

Polgárdi Polgárdi is a town in Fejér county, Hungary, reportedly the site where the Sevso Treasure was discovered. Geography Polgárdi is located at an altitude of about 144 metres, about 12 kilometres northeast of Lake Balaton, a resort area in wester ...

, Hungary)Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149. * †''Muscicapa petenyii'' (Pliocene of

Beremend Beremend (german: Behrend; sr, Бреме, Breme) is a village in Baranya County, Hungary on the Croatian border. Residents are Magyars, with minority of Serbs. Until the end of World War II, the Inhabitants was Danube Swabians, also called loc ...

, Hungary)

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Muscicapa'': *

Red-backed fairywren The red-backed fairywren (''Malurus melanocephalus'') is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia and can be found near rivers and coastal areas along the northern and eastern coastlines ...

(as ''Muscicapa melanocephala'') *

Australian golden whistler The Australian golden whistler (''Pachycephala pectoralis'') or golden whistler, is a species of bird found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia (except the interior and most of the north)Ken Simpson, K., & N. Day. (1994) ...

(as ''Muscicapa pectoralis'') * New Caledonian whistler (as ''Muscicapa caledonica'') * Rufous whistler (xanthetraea) (as ''Muscicapa xanthetraea'') *

Little shrikethrush Little shrikethrush has been split into the following species: * Arafura shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla megarhyncha'' * Variable shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla fortis'' * Waigeo shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla affinis'' * Mamberamo shrikethrush ...

(as ''Muscicapa megarhyncha'') *

Black-naped monarch The black-naped monarch or black-naped blue flycatcher (''Hypothymis azurea'') is a slim and agile passerine bird belonging to the family of monarch flycatchers found in southern and south-eastern Asia. They are sexually dimorphic, with the male ...

(as ''Muscicapa azurea'') *

Blue-mantled crested flycatcher The blue-mantled crested flycatcher or African crested flycatcher (''Trochocercus cyanomelas'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae found in eastern and south-eastern Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry fores ...

(as ''Muscicapa cyanomelas'') *

African paradise flycatcher The African paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone viridis'') is a medium-sized passerine bird. The two central tail feathers of the male are extended into streamers that commonly are more than twice as long as the body. The female tail feathers are ...

(as ''Muscicapa viridis'') *

Mascarene paradise flycatcher The Mascarene paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone bourbonnensis'') is a species of bird in the monarch-flycatcher family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Mascarene islands of Mauritius and Réunion. There are two subspecies recognized: the nom ...

(as ''Muscicapa bourbonnensis'') * Hawaiʻi ʻelepaio (as ''Muscicapa sandwichensis'') *

Tahiti monarch The Tahiti monarch (''Pomarea nigra''), or Tahiti flycatcher, is a rare species of bird in the monarch flycatcher family. It is endemic to Tahiti in French Polynesia. There are between 25 and 100 individuals remaining with an increasing popula ...

(as ''Muscicapa nigra'') * †

Maupiti monarch The Maupiti monarch (''Pomarea maupitiensis'') was a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It was endemic to the island of Maupiti in the Society Islands ( French Polynesia). The Maupiti monarch became extinct shortly after the type specime ...

(as ''Muscicapa Pomarea'') * Chuuk monarch (as ''Muscicapa Rugensis'') * Spot-winged monarch (as ''Muscicapa guttula'') *

Hooded monarch The hooded monarch (''Symposiachrus manadensis'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found on New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Taxonomy and systematics The hooded monarch was ...

(as ''Muscicapa manadensis'') * Island monarch (as ''Muscicapa inornata'') * Black-faced monarch (as ''Muscicapa melanopsis'') * Golden monarch (as ''Muscicapa chrysomela'') * Frilled monarch (as ''Muscicapa telescopthalmus'') * Shining flycatcher (chalybeocephala) (as ''Muscicapa chalybeocephalus'') * Black-capped bulbul (as ''Muscicapa melanictera'') * Light-vented bulbul (as ''Muscicapa sinensis'') *

Yellow-vented bulbul The yellow-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus goiavier''), or eastern yellow-vented bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in southeastern Asia from Indochina to the Philippines. It is found in a wide vari ...

(as ''Muscicapa goiavier'')

Taxonomy and systematics

Extant species

Extinct species

Former species

References

Further reading