Cercotrichas
Genus of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cercotrichas is a genus of medium-sized insectivorous birds. They were formerly considered to be in the thrush family, (Turdidae), but are more often now treated as part of the Old World flycatcher family, (Muscicapidae).
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| Cercotrichas | |
|---|---|
| |
| White-browed scrub robin (Cercotrichas leucophrys) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Cercotrichas F. Boie, 1831 |
| Type species | |
| Turdus erythropterus Gmelin, 1788=Turdus podobe Müller, 1776 | |
Taxonomy
The genus Cercotrichas was introduced in 1831 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie.[1] The type species was subsequently designated as Turdus erythropterus Gmelin which is a junior synonym of Turdus podobe Müller, the black scrub robin.[2][3] The genus name Cercotrichas is from Ancient Greek kerkos meaning "tail" and trikhas meaning "thrush".[4]
This genus formerly included additional species. A molecular phylogenetic study of the Muscicapidae by Min Zhao and collaborators published in 2023 found that the genus Cercotrichas was paraphyletic.[5] In the rearrangement to create monophyletic genera five species were moved to the resurrected genus Tychaedon that had been introduced in 1917 by the American ornithologist Charles Richmond.[6]
Scrub robins are mainly African species of open woodland or scrub, which nest in bushes or on the ground, but the rufous-tailed scrub robin also breeds in southern Europe and east to Pakistan.
The genus contains the following five species:[6]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Kalahari scrub robin | Cercotrichas paena | Kalahari Desert to Kaokoveld |
 | Black scrub robin | Cercotrichas podobe | Sahel and montane Arabian Peninsula |
 | Rufous-tailed scrub robin | Cercotrichas galactotes | southwestern Palearctic, Central Asia, Sahel and Horn of Africa |
 | Brown-backed scrub robin | Cercotrichas hartlaubi | sparsely present across central Africa |
 | White-browed scrub robin | Cercotrichas leucophrys | Sub-Saharan Africa (rare in southern Africa and African tropical rainforest) |