''Trochocercus'' is a genus of

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 ...

in the family

Monarchidae The monarchs (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivorous songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland a ...

. Described by

Jean Cabanis Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist. Cabanis was born in Berlin to an old Huguenot family who had moved from France. Little is known of his early life. He studied at the University of Berlin from 18 ...

in 1850, the name ''Trochocercus'' is a combination of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

words ''trokhos'' meaning "circular" or "round" and ''kerkos'', meaning "tail".

Taxonomy and systematics

Extant species

After three former species were transferred to the genus ''Elminia'' in 2009, the genus ''Trochocercus'' now contains the following two remaining species:

Former species

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

Bedford's paradise flycatcher Bedford's paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone bedfordi'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropic ...

(as ''Trochocercus bedfordi'') *

Dusky crested flycatcher The dusky crested flycatcher (''Elminia nigromitrata'') is a species of bird in the family Stenostiridae. It is widespread across the African tropical rainforest. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A fo ...

(as ''Trochocercus nigromitratus'') *

White-bellied crested flycatcher The white-bellied crested flycatcher (''Elminia albiventris'') is a bird species in the family Stenostiridae; it was formerly placed with the drongos in the Dicruridae. It is native to the Cameroon line (including Bioko) and the Albertine Rif ...

(as ''Trochocercus albiventris'') *

White-tailed crested flycatcher The white-tailed crested flycatcher (''Elminia albonotata'') is a species of bird in the flycatcher family Stenostiridae. It has a discontinuous distribution in eastern Africa. There are three subspecies, ''E. a. albonotata'' of central Kenya, an ...

(as ''Trochocercus albicaudatus'' or ''Trochocercus albonotata'')

References

Monarchidae Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Monarchidae-stub