Muscicapa

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: ParaHoxozoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Olfactores
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Sauropsida
Cladus: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Neodiapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Cladus: Archelosauria
Cladus: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crocopoda
Cladus: Archosauriformes
Cladus: Eucrocopoda
Cladus: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Cladus: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Subclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Subclassis/Parvclassis: Neornithes
Infraclassis/Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Telluraves
Cladus: Australaves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Passerida
Superfamilia: Muscicapoidea

Familia: Muscicapidae
Genus: Muscicapa
Species: M. adusta - M. aquatica - M. boehmi – M. cassini - M. comitata - M. dauurica - M. epulata - M. ferruginea - M. gambagae - M. griseisticta - M. infuscata - M. itombwensis – M. muttui – M. randi – M. segregata – M. sethsmithi – M. sibirica – M. sodhii – M. striata – M. tyrrhenica – M. ussheri – M. williamsoni

Formerly included:

Muscicapa caerulescens = Fraseria caerulescens
Muscicapa lendu = Fraseria lendu
Muscicapa olivascens = Fraseria olivascens
Muscicapa ruficauda = Ficedula ruficauda
Muscicapa tessmanni = Fraseria tessmanni

Name

Muscicapa Brisson, 1760
Typus

Motacilla striata Pallas, 1764 = Muscicapa striata

References
Primary references

Brisson, M.J. 1760. Ornithologie ou méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés. A laquelle on a joint une description exacte de chaque espece, avec les citations des auteurs qui en ont traité, les noms qu'ils leur ont donnés, ceux que leur ont donnés les différentes nations, & les noms vulgaires. Ouvrage enrichi de figures en taille-douce. Tome I. - pp. j-xxiv [= 1-24], 1-526, j-lxxiij [= 1-73], Pl. I-XXXVII [= 1-37]. Paris. (Bauche). : 32 BHL Reference page. Illustration pl.VI, fig.3 BHL Tome 2 p.357 BHL Illustration pl.XXXV, fig.3 BHL

References

Mlíkovský, J. 2012. Correct name for the Asian Brown Flycatcher (Aves: Muscicapidae, Muscicapa). Zootaxa 3393: 53–56. Preview Reference page.
Voelker, G., Huntley, J. W., Peñalba, J. V., & Bowie, R. C. 2016. Resolving taxonomic uncertainty and historical biogeographic patterns in Muscicapa flycatchers and their allies. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 94 (B): 618-625. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.026 Reference page.
Voelker, G., Bowie, R. C. K. & Conway, K. W. 2016. Replacement names for Chapinia and Ripleyia (Aves: Passeriformes: Muscicapidae). Zootaxa 4107 (4): 599. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4107.4.9 Reference page.

Links

IOC

Muscicapa is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and therein to the typical flycatchers of subfamily Muscicapinae. They are widespread across Europe, Africa and Asia with most species occurring in forest and woodland habitats. Several species are migratory, moving south from Europe and northern Asia for the winter.[1]

They are small birds, 9 to 15 cm (3.5 to 5.9 in) in length. They have a large head, short tail and a flattened bill, broader at the base. Their plumage is mostly drab brown or grey and rather plain. Young birds tend to be more spotted or mottled.[1]

Muscicapa flycatchers typically feed on flying insects which are caught by sallying out from an exposed perch. The nest is usually cup-shaped and built on a tree branch but some African species nest in tree holes.[1]
Taxonomy and systematics

The genus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) as the type species.[2][3] The word Muscicapa comes from the Latin musca, a fly and capere, to catch.[4]

In 2010 two large molecular phylogenetic 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.[5][6] 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.[7]
Extant species

There are 17 extant species of Muscicapa flycatchers:[8]

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Grey-streaked flycatcher	Muscicapa griseisticta	Manchuria and Kamchatka ; winters in Southeast Asia
	Dark-sided flycatcher	Muscicapa sibirica	Asia
	Ferruginous flycatcher	Muscicapa ferruginea	Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, India, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
	Brown-breasted flycatcher	Muscicapa muttui	north eastern India, central and Southern China and northern Burma, Thailand and Vietnam, and migrates to southern India and Sri Lanka.
	Ashy-breasted flycatcher	Muscicapa randi	Philippines
	Sumba brown flycatcher	Muscicapa segregata	Indonesia
	Asian brown flycatcher	Muscicapa dauurica[9][10]	Japan, eastern Siberia,southern India, Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and Vietnam, and the Himalayas
	Brown-streaked flycatcher	Muscicapa williamsoni	southern Myanmar, southern Thailand, northern peninsular Malaysia, and northeast Borneo
	Sulawesi streaked flycatcher	Muscicapa sodhii	Sulawesi
	Yellow-footed flycatcher	Muscicapa sethsmithi	African tropical rainforest
	Little grey flycatcher	Muscicapa epulata	African tropical rainforest
	African dusky flycatcher	Muscicapa adusta	elevated areas of Sub-Saharan Africa
	Spotted flycatcher	Muscicapa striata	Mediterranean and Europe to Central Asia, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa
	Mediterranean flycatcher	Muscicapa tyrrhenica	the Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa
	Gambaga flycatcher	Muscicapa gambagae	Sudan (region) and Arabian Highlands
	Cassin's flycatcher	Muscicapa cassini	African tropical rainforest
	Swamp flycatcher	Muscicapa aquatica	Sudan (region) and south towards Zambia

Extinct species

There are at least two fossil species which are included in this genus:

†Muscicapa miklosi (Late Miocene of Polgárdi, Hungary)[11]
†Muscicapa petenyii (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary)[11]

Former species

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

Red-backed fairywren (as Muscicapa melanocephala)[12]
Australian golden whistler (as Muscicapa pectoralis)[13]
New Caledonian whistler (as Muscicapa caledonica)[14]
Rufous whistler (xanthetraea) (as Muscicapa xanthetraea)[15]
Little shrikethrush (as Muscicapa megarhyncha)[16]
Black-naped monarch (as Muscicapa azurea)[17]
Blue-mantled crested flycatcher (as Muscicapa cyanomelas)[18]
African paradise flycatcher (as Muscicapa viridis)[19]
Mascarene paradise flycatcher (as Muscicapa bourbonnensis)[20]
Hawaiʻi ʻelepaio (as Muscicapa sandwichensis)[21]
Tahiti monarch (as Muscicapa nigra)[22]
†Maupiti monarch (as Muscicapa Pomarea)[23]
Chuuk monarch (as Muscicapa Rugensis)[24]
Spot-winged monarch (as Muscicapa guttula)[25]
Hooded monarch (as Muscicapa manadensis)[26]
Island monarch (as Muscicapa inornata)[27]
Black-faced monarch (as Muscicapa melanopsis)[28]
Golden monarch (as Muscicapa chrysomela)[29]
Frilled monarch (as Muscicapa telescopthalmus)[30]
Shining flycatcher (chalybeocephala) (as Muscicapa chalybeocephalus)[31]
Black-capped bulbul (as Muscicapa melanictera)[32]
Light-vented bulbul (as Muscicapa sinensis)[33]
Yellow-vented bulbul (as Muscicapa goiavier)[34]

References

Sinclair et al. (2003), Perrins (2004), del Hoyo et al. (2006)
Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie; ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, espéces & leurs variétés. &c (in Latin and French). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1 p. 32, Vol. 2 p. 357.
Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 313.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Sangster, G.; Alström, P.; Forsmark, E.; Olsson, U. (2010). "Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57 (1): 380–392. Bibcode:2010MolPE..57..380S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID 20656044.
Zuccon, D.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2010). "A multi-gene phylogeny disentangles the chat-flycatcher complex (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Zoologica Scripta. 39 (3): 213–224. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2010.00423.x. S2CID 85963319.
Voelker, G.; Huntley, J.W.; Peñalba, J.V.; Bowie, R.C.K. (2016). "Resolving taxonomic uncertainty and historical biogeographic patterns in Muscicapa flycatchers and their allies". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 94 (Pt B): 618–625. Bibcode:2016MolPE..94..618V. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.026. PMID 26475615.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
Mlíkovský, J. (2012). "Correct name for the Asian Brown Flycatcher (Aves:Muscicapidae, Muscicapa". Zootaxa. 3393: 53–56. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3393.1.4.
Dickinson, E.C.; et al. (2014). "Correcting the "correct" name for the Asian Brown Flycatcher (Aves: Passeriformes, Muscicapidae, Muscicapa". Zootaxa. 3869 (3): 343–347. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3869.3.8. PMID 25283921.
Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149.
"Malurus melanocephalus (Red-backed Fairywren) - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
"Pachycephala pectoralis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-03.
"Pachycephala caledonica - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
"Pachycephala rufiventris xanthetraea - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
"Colluricincla megarhyncha - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
"Hypothymis azurea - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
"Trochocercus cyanomelas - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
"Terpsiphone viridis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
"Terpsiphone bourbonnensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
"Chasiempis sandwichensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
"Pomarea nigra - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
"Pomarea pomarea - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
"Metabolus rugensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
"Symposiachrus guttula - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
"Symposiachrus manadensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
"Monarcha cinerascens inornatus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
"Monarcha melanopsis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
"Carterornis chrysomela - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
"Arses telescopthalmus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
"Myiagra alecto chalybeocephala - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
"Pycnonotus melanicterus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
"Pycnonotus [sinensis or formosae] - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-13.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1832). Longman. 1854-01-01.

Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Muscicapa.
Wikispecies has information related to Muscicapa.

del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (eds.) (2006): Handbook of Birds of the World (Vol. 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-96553-06-X (Vol.11: 2006)
Perrins, Christopher (ed.) (2004): The New Encyclopedia of Birds. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-852506-0
Sinclair, Ian; Ryan, Pete; Christy, Patrice & Hockey, Phil (2003): Birds of Africa: a complete illustrated field guide to the birds of the Sahara. Struik, Cape Town. ISBN 1-86872-857-9