Saxicola

File:Pied bushchat (Saxicola caprata bicolor) female.jpg

Female pied bushchat (Saxicola caprata bicolor), India

Saxicola (Latin: saxum, rock + incola, dwelling in<ref name =job>Template:Cite book.</ref>), the stonechats or chats, is a genus of 15 species of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World. They are insectivores occurring in open scrubland and grassland with scattered small shrubs.

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The type species was subsequently designated as the European stonechat.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The name Saxicola is from Latin saxum, saxi "stone" and -cola "dweller".<ref name=hbwkey>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The genus was formerly included in the thrush family Turdidae, but as with several other related genera, has now been shown to be correctly classified in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, in which it is most closely related to the genera Oenanthe (wheatears) and Campicoloides.<ref name=Hoyo/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Genetic and behavioural evidence has also resulted in several new species being accepted in the genus in recent years, most notably the splitting of the former broad "species" common stonechat Saxicola torquatus into five species, a change now widely though not yet universally accepted. With addition of mtDNA cytochrome b sequence and nDNA fingerprinting data, it was confirmed that not only the Fuerteventura and Réunion stonechats are distinct species, but that in addition, the African, Madagascar, European, Siberian and Amur stonechats are also all separate species.<ref name="Urquhart">Urquhart, E., & Bowley, A. (2002). Stonechats. A Guide to the Genus Saxicola. Christopher Helm, London. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name=wink>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Due to confusion of subspecies allocation, the name S. torquatus was briefly used for the European species, with the African stonechat being incorrectly listed as S. axillaris.<ref name=wink/>

Owing to misunderstandings of Latin syntax, several species have in the past been widely but incorrectly cited with feminine name endings ("S. torquata, S. maura, S. leucura, S. ferrea", etc.).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Species

The following 14 species are currently accepted in Saxicola:<ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Image	Common Name	Scientific Name	Distribution
File:Jerdon's Bush Chat, Inle Lake, Taunggyi District, Shan State, Myanmar (33940816073).jpg	Jerdon's bush chat	Saxicola jerdoni	Eastern Himalaya and Myanmar
File:Grey-Bushchat.jpg	Grey bush chat	Saxicola ferreus	Himalayas, southern China and Indochina
File:Saxicola rubetra am.jpg	Whinchat	Saxicola rubetra	western Palearctic ; winters to sub-Saharan Africa
File:Stolickza's Bushchat at Kutch Photo Dhaval Vargiya (2).jpg	White-browed bush chat	Saxicola macrorhynchus	northwestern India
File:White-bellied Bush Chat (Saxicola gutturalis) (8074117562).jpg	White-bellied bush chat	Saxicola gutturalis	Timor
File:Pied bush chat (Saxicola caprata)male from nilgiris DSC 1123.jpg	Pied bush chat	Saxicola caprata	south-central Asia and Indomalaya
File:Adult at Jim Corbett National Park, India.jpg	White-throated bush chat	Saxicola insignis	mountains of western Mongolia ; winters in the Terai–Duar savanna and grasslands
File:White-tailed Stonechat (Saxicola leucurus) (32895496601).jpg	White-tailed stonechat	Saxicola leucurus	Indus valley, Himalayan foothills, northeast South Asia and Myanmar
File:Stejneger's Stonechat.jpg	Amur stonechat	Saxicola stejnegeri	Manchuria, Korea and Japan ; winters to southern China and Indochina
File:Saxicola torquatus, male, Johannesburg 3.jpg	African stonechat	Saxicola torquatus	Afrotropics
File:Saxicola tectes mâle, RVB, 2.jpg	Réunion stonechat	Saxicola tectes	Réunion
File:Siberian stonechat (Saxicola maurus) male non-breeding.jpg	Siberian stonechat	Saxicola maurus	Siberia and eastern Alpide belt ; winters to southern Asia
File:Malestonechatseaham.JPG	European stonechat	Saxicola rubicola	Europe and North Africa ; winters to Middle East
File:Saxicola dacotiae 183123563.jpg	Canary Islands stonechat	Saxicola dacotiae	Fuerteventura

Formerly included in the genus Saxicola, but now treated in a separate genus:

• Splendid fairywren, as Saxicola splendens<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Buff-streaked chat, as Saxicola bifasciatus<ref name="Hoyo">Template:Cite book</ref>

Fossil record

• Saxicola lambrechti (Late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary) <ref name=kessler>Template:Cite journal

</ref>

• Saxicola baranensis (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary)<ref name=kessler/>
• Saxicola parva (Pliocene of Csarnota, Hungary)<ref name=kessler/>
• Saxicola magna (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary)<ref name=kessler/>