Family Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)

Least Concern

Archer's Robin-chat (Dessonornis archeri)

Taxonomy

French: Cossyphe d’Archer German: Ruwenzorirötel Spanish: Cosifa de Archer

Other common names: Archer's Ground Robin

Taxonomy:

Cossypha archeri

Sharpe

, 1902,

Rwenzori, Uganda

Recently placed by one authority in Dryocichloides. Race albimentalis synonymized with nominate. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution

D. a. archeri (Sharpe, 1902) – Archer's Robin-chat – SW Uganda, E DRCongo, W Rwanda and W Burundi.

D. a. kimbutui (Prigogine, 1955) – Kabobo Robin-chat – Mt Kabobo, in E DRCongo.

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Descriptive notes

15 cm; 20–26 g. Nominate race resembles Oreocossypha isabellae, but with slightly longer white supercilium, white spot on chin, uniform rufous tail; bill black... read more

Voice

Song, delivered throughout day for several months, a curious melancholy loud trilled piping... read more

Habitat

Understorey of montane forest, including secondary growth with open understorey of bracken, wild... read more

Food and feeding

Insects, such as beetles, ants, termites, hemipteran bugs, hymenopterans and caterpillars; small millipedes. Forages on and near ground on... read more

Breeding

Possibly all year except Jun–Aug dry season; evidence of Jan, Apr, Oct and Dec in Rwanda, Oct–Nov, Mar and May in DRCongo, and... read more

Movements

Mainly sedentary. Some altitudinal migration or juvenile dispersal may occur in Kivu region of... read more

Status and conservation

Not globally threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Albertine Rift Mountains EBA. Common to abundant, particularly along streamsides.

Bibliography

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Scientific classification

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Muscicapidae

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In past, traditionally treated as an outsize family that also included expanded versions of Sylviidae, Timaliidae and Turdidae; these three were subsequently split off as three separate families, but still in much expanded form as compared to their current treatment. Since publication of HBW, limits of all these families have been dramatically rewritten due to a barrage of occasionally contradictory molecular data. Within present family problems remain, particularly due to incomplete taxon sampling, but near-complete screening to species level has now been attempted for at least a handful of genera (notably Oenanthe and Saxicola), and large elements of consensus have emerged, among them the recognition of four principal lineages, here treated as subfamilies. Most notable development involves transfer of many genera from Turdidae to present family, including Alethe, Cichladusa, Heteroxenicus, Brachypteryx, Heinrichia, Myophonus, Monticola, Thamnolaea, Myrmecocichla, Pogonocichla, Swynnertonia, Stiphrornis, Sheppardia, Cossypha, Xenocopsychus, Irania, Luscinia, Erithacus, Tarsiger, Cercotrichas, Copsychus, Phoenicurus, Saxicola and Oenanthe. Genetic sampling has also revealed extensive paraphyly, with the result that many species have switched genera. Some genera have disappeared completely into synonymy (e.g. Erythropygia), and others have shrunk to just one or two species (e.g. Luscinia), while a few have become substantially larger (e.g. Cercotrichas, Oenanthe).

Subfamily: Cossyphinae

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All taxa previously placed in Turdidae.

Genus: Dessonornis A. Smith, 1836

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Previously included in Cossypha, but that genus shown to be polyphyletic#R #R #R, although taxon sampling remains incomplete. Name Caffrornis has been applied to present grouping#R, but Dessonornis has priority by 86 years. Smith altered his name to Bessonornis in 1840, but this is an unjustified emendation.

See full taxonomic structure and notes