''Saxicola'' (

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 ...

: ''saxum'', rock + ''incola'', dwelling in.), the stonechats or chats, 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 ...

of 15

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 small

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 ...

bird 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 ...

s restricted to the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

. They are

insectivore A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...

s occurring in open scrubland and grassland with scattered small

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced by the German naturalist

Johann Matthäus Bechstein Johann Matthäus Bechstein (11 July 1757 – 23 February 1822) was a German naturalist, forester, ornithologist, entomologist, and herpetologist. In Great Britain, he was known for his treatise on singing birds (''Naturgeschichte der Stubenvög ...

in 1802. 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 ...

was subsequently designated as the

European stonechat The European stonechat (''Saxicola rubicola'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a subspecies of the common stonechat. Long considered a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, genetic evidence has placed it and its relativ ...

. The name ''Saxicola'' is from Latin ''saxum'', ''saxi'' "stone" and ''-cola'' "dweller". The genus was formerly included in the thrush family

Turdidae The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycat ...

, but as with several other related genera, has now been shown to be correctly classified in the Old World flycatcher family

Muscicapidae 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 ...

, in which it is most closely related to the genera '' Oenanthe'' (wheatears) and '' Campicoloides''. Genetic and behavioural evidence has also resulted in several new species being accepted in the genus in recent years, most notably the splitting of the former broad "species"

common stonechat Common stonechat is the name used for the ''Saxicola'' species ''Saxicola torquatus'' when this is treated in its broad sense. It is, however, now more widely considered to be a superspecies consisting of several related but distinct species, w ...

''Saxicola torquatus'' into five species, a change now widely though not yet universally accepted. With addition of

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

cytochrome ''b''

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

and

nDNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. I ...

fingerprinting A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

data, it was confirmed that not only the

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

and

Réunion stonechat The Réunion stonechat (''Saxicola tectes'') is a species of stonechat, endemic to the island of Réunion. This small passerine bird is common in clearings and open mountain bushlands there up to 2600 metres above the sea level, including in th ...

s are distinct species, but that in addition, the

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

Siberian Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

and

Amur stonechat The Amur stonechat or Stejneger's stonechat (''Saxicola stejnegeri'') is a species of stonechat native to eastern Asia. It breeds in central and eastern Siberia, Japan, Korea, northeastern China, and eastern Mongolia, and migrates south to so ...

s are also all separate species.Urquhart, E., & Bowley, A. (2002). ''Stonechats. A Guide to the Genus Saxicola''.

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the ''Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar, w ...

, London. . Due to confusion of

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

allocation, the name ''S. torquatus'' was briefly used for the European species, with the African stonechat being incorrectly listed as ''S. axillaris''. Owing to misunderstandings of Latin syntax, several species have in the past been widely but incorrectly cited with feminine name endings ("''S. torquata, S. maura, S. leucura, S. ferrea''", etc.).

Species

The following 15 species are currently accepted in ''Saxicola'': *

Whinchat The whinchat (''Saxicola rubetra'') is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in central Africa. At one time considered to be in the thrush family, Turdidae, it is now placed in the Old World flycat ...

(''Saxicola rubetra)'' * White-browed bush chat (''Saxicola macrorhynchus)'' *

White-throated bush chat The white-throated bush chat (''Saxicola insignis''), also known as Hodgson's bushchat, is an Old World flycatcher in the genus ''Saxicola''. It is IUCN Red Listed as Vulnerable by BirdLife International. In 2001, the global population has bee ...

(''Saxicola insignis)'' *

Canary Islands stonechat The Canary Islands stonechat (''Saxicola dacotiae''), also known as the Fuerteventura stonechat or Fuerteventura chat, and formerly known as the Canary Islands chat due to its once widespread distribution on the Canary Islands, is a sedentary res ...

(''Saxicola dacotiae)'' *

(''Saxicola rubicola)'' *

Siberian stonechat The Siberian stonechat or Asian stonechat (''Saxicola maurus'') is a recently validated species of the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae). Like the other thrush-like flycatchers, it was often placed in the Turdidae in the past. It breed ...

(''Saxicola maurus)'' *

(''Saxicola stejnegeri)'' *

African stonechat The African stonechat or common stonechat (''Saxicola torquatus'') is a species of the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae), inhabiting sub-Saharan Africa and adjacent regions. Like the other chats, it was long assigned to the thrush fa ...

(''Saxicola torquatus)'' *

Madagascar stonechat The Madagascar stonechat (''Saxicola sibilla'') is a species of stonechat, endemic to Madagascar. It is a small bird, closely similar to the African stonechat in both plumage and behaviour, but distinguished from it by the more extensive black o ...

(''Saxicola sibilla)'' * Reunion stonechat (''Saxicola tectes)'' * White-tailed stonechat (''Saxicola leucurus)'' * Pied bush chat (''Saxicola caprata)'' * Jerdon's bush chat (''Saxicola jerdoni)'' * Grey bush chat (''Saxicola ferreus)'' * White-bellied bush chat (''Saxicola gutturalis)'' Formerly included in the genus ''Saxicola'', but now treated in a separate genus: *

Splendid fairywren The splendid fairywren (''Malurus splendens'') is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is also known simply as the splendid wren or more colloquially in Western Australia as the blue wren. The splendid fairywren is fo ...

(as ''Saxicola splendens'') *

Buff-streaked chat The buff-streaked chat or buff-streaked bushchat (''Campicoloides bifasciatus'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Lesotho, South Africa, and Eswatini. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland gra ...

(as ''Saxicola bifasciatus'')

Fossil record

* ''Saxicola lambrechti'' (Late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary) *''Saxicola baranensis'' (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary) *''Saxicola parva'' (Pliocene of Csarnota, Hungary) *''Saxicola magna'' (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q906092 Bird genera