Muscicapa

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]

Muscicapa
Spotted flycatcher (M. striata)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Muscicapa Brisson, 1760
Species
see text

They are small birds, 9 to 15 centimetres 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, that included 37 of the 42 Muscicapini species, confirmed that Muscicapa was non-monophyletic and proposed a reorganised arrangement with several new or resurrected genera.[7]

Extant species

There are 27 extant species of Muscicapa flycatchers:[8]

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Spotted flycatcher	Muscicapa striata	Africa and south western Asia
	Mediterranean flycatcher	Muscicapa tyrrhenica	the Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa
	Gambaga flycatcher	Muscicapa gambagae	Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, and Yemen.
	Grey-streaked flycatcher	Muscicapa griseisticta	north-east China, North Korea and south-east Siberia including Sakhalin and Kamchatka. In spring and autumn it migrates through eastern and southern China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. In winter it occurs in forests, forest edges and open country with scattered trees in Borneo, the Philippines, Palau, eastern Indonesia and New Guinea. It is a vagrant to Singapore, Vietnam, Alaska and Australia.
	Dark-sided flycatcher	Muscicapa sibirica	Asia
	Asian brown flycatcher	Muscicapa dauurica[9][10]	Japan, eastern Siberia,southern India, Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and Vietnam, and the Himalayas.
	Sulawesi streaked flycatcher	Muscicapa sodhii	Sulawesi
	Brown-streaked flycatcher	Muscicapa williamsoni	southern Myanmar, southern Thailand, northern peninsular Malaysia, and northeast Borneo
	Ashy-breasted flycatcher	Muscicapa randi	Philippines
	Sumba brown flycatcher	Muscicapa segregata	Indonesia.
	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.
	Ferruginous flycatcher	Muscicapa ferruginea	Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, India, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
	Ashy flycatcher	Muscicapa caerulescens	Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
	Swamp flycatcher	Muscicapa aquatica	Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia
	Cassin's flycatcher	Muscicapa cassini	Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
	Olivaceous flycatcher	Muscicapa olivascens	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
	Chapin's flycatcher	Muscicapa lendu	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, and possibly Rwanda
	Itombwe flycatcher	Muscicapa itombwensis	Democratic Republic of the Congo.
	African dusky flycatcher	Muscicapa adusta	Africa from Nigeria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Ethiopia south to South Africa
	Little grey flycatcher	Muscicapa epulata	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
	Yellow-footed flycatcher	Muscicapa sethsmithi	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, and Uganda.
	Dusky-blue flycatcher	Muscicapa comitata	Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.
	Tessmann's flycatcher	Muscicapa tessmanni	Democratic Republic of the Congo to Sierra Leone.
	Sooty flycatcher	Muscicapa infuscata	Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
	Ussher's flycatcher	Muscicapa ussheri	Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
	Böhm's flycatcher	Muscicapa boehmi	Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, and 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

1. Sinclair et al. (2003), Perrins (2004), del Hoyo et al. (2006)
2. 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.
3. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 313.
4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
5. 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. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID 20656044.
6. 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.
7. 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: 618–625. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.026. PMID 26475615.
8. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2016). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". World Bird List Version 6.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
9. Mlíkovský, J. (2012). "Correct name for the Asian Brown Flycatcher (Aves:Muscicapidae, Muscicapa". Zootaxa. 3393: 53–56. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3393.1.4.
10. 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.
11. Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149.
12. "Malurus melanocephalus (Red-backed Fairywren) - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
13. "Pachycephala pectoralis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-03.
14. "Pachycephala caledonica - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
15. "Pachycephala rufiventris xanthetraea - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
16. "Colluricincla megarhyncha - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
17. "Hypothymis azurea - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
18. "Trochocercus cyanomelas - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
19. "Terpsiphone viridis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
20. "Terpsiphone bourbonnensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
21. "Chasiempis sandwichensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
22. "Pomarea nigra - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
23. "Pomarea pomarea - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
24. "Metabolus rugensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
25. "Symposiachrus guttula - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
26. "Symposiachrus manadensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
27. "Monarcha cinerascens inornatus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
28. "Monarcha melanopsis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
29. "Carterornis chrysomela - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
30. "Arses telescopthalmus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
31. "Myiagra alecto chalybeocephala - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
32. "Pycnonotus melanicterus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
33. "Pycnonotus [sinensis or formosae] - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
34. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1832). Longman. 1854-01-01.

Further reading

• 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