Benson's rock thrush (''Monticola sharpei bensoni'') is a

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds ( Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 50 ...

in the

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

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 North ...

, formerly placed in the

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 flyca ...

together with the other

chat Chat or chats may refer to: Communication * Conversation, particularly casual * Online chat, text message communication over the Internet in real-time * Synchronous conferencing, a formal term for online chat * SMS chat, a form of text messagin ...

s. It is usually included in the forest rock thrush (''M. sharpei'') as a subspecies; e.g.

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

revised its status to subspecies in 2008., however it was recognized as a distinct species at one time. This bird is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

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 ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical dry

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' ...

s and subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ...

. It is becoming rare due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

; when it was still considered a good species, it was classified as

Near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

by the IUCN.BLI (2004)

Description

The male has a blue head, mantle, back, wings and upper parts of the breast contrasting with an orange lower part of the breast and the belly. The female has a brown back, wings and tail and pale underparts, mottled and streaked with bold brown markings. In both sexes, the base of the outer tail feathers is orange. Males can often be detected by their song - "toee toee toee" issuing from the lower parts of the tree canopy.

Distribution and habitat

This species is endemic to Madagascar and is found in the tropical forests. In the north of the island it is usually found in mid- and high-altitude rainforests, in forest fringes and adjacent scrubby areas. In the south it inhabits dry forests and semi-arid rocky areas. It appears to be able to recolonise burnt areas when the flora regrows.

Conservation

The IUCN lists this species as being of "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...

". The population may be declining slightly but the bird seems to be fairly common. The main threats it faces are habitat degradation due to forest clearance for agricultural development, commercial logging, mining for

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sap ...

s and the increased frequency of fires.

Footnotes

*Cruaud, A., M.J. Raherilalao, E. Pasquet, and S.M. Goodman. 2011. Phylogeography and systematics of the Malagasy rock-thrushes (Muscicapidae, Monticola). Zoologica Scripta 40: 554–566

References

*Farkas, T. 1971. Monticola bensoni, a new species from south-western Madagascar. Ostrich 9 (supplement):83–90. *

(BLI) (2008b)
2008 IUCN Redlist status changes.
Retrieved 2008-MAY-23. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3892877 Benson's rock thrush Endemic birds of Madagascar Benson's rock thrush Taxonomy articles created by Polbot