Phoenicurus

Phoenicurus
Phoenicurus ochruros
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Phoenicurus
T. Forster, 1817

Phoenicurus is a genus of eleven species of birds in the family Muscicapidae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Along with three other closely related genera, they are named redstarts from their orange-red tails ('start' is an old name for a tail). They are small insectivores, the males mostly brightly coloured in various combinations of red, blue, white, and black, the females light brown with a red tail.[1] Recent genetic studies have shown that the genus is not monophyletic, but may be made so by the inclusion within it of two of the other redstart genera Chaimarrornis and Rhyacornis;[2] this conclusion is yet to be taken up by the International Ornithological Congress.[3]

The genus contains the following species:[3]

Fossil record

Phoenicurus erikai (Pliocene of Csarnota, Hungary) [4] Phoenicurus baranensis (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary) [5]

References

  1. Hoyo, J. del, et al., eds. (2005). Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 10. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 768–773. ISBN 84-87334-72-5.
  2. 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: 380–392 Full text
  3. 3.0 3.1 IOC World Bird List Family Muscicapidae
  4. Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149.
  5. Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149.