Family Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)

Least Concern

Hodgson's Redstart (Phoenicurus hodgsoni)

Taxonomy

French: Rougequeue de Hodgson German: Tibetrotschwanz Spanish: Colirrojo de Hodgson

Taxonomy:

Ruticilla Hodgsoni

F. Moore

, 1854,

Bhutan

Monotypic.

Distribution:

E & SE Tibetan Plateau E to C China (E Qinghai, W & S Gansu and S Shaanxi, S to W Sichuan and NW Yunnan); has bred in Bhutan#R; non-breeding W Nepal E to EC & S China and N Myanmar.

Descriptive notes

15 cm; 14–19 g. Very like P. phoenicurus, but slightly larger. Male differs in having narrower white frontal band, more extensive and slightly bluish (less... read more

Voice

Song a series of short, sprightly, variable phrases each consisting of tinny, tinkly, well-... read more

Habitat

Breeds in varied montane landscapes such as part-wooded hills, poplar-studded and pine-studded... read more

Food and feeding

Insects, berries. Forages in short flights from perch; also sallies for flying insects.

Breeding

May–Jul. Nest reportedly made of grass stems and twigs, lined with feathers, placed in hole amid pine roots, in rotten stump, in... read more

Movements

Migratory. Arrives on breeding grounds end Mar in Tibet, mid-Apr in China. Winter visitor to... read more

Status and conservation

Not globally threatened. Fairly common in much of breeding range. In winter, locally common in India, fairly common in China and and scarce in N Myanmar.

Bibliography

Public comments

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: Saxicolinae

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Apart from Vauriella and Ficedula, all genera previously placed in Turdidae.

Genus: Phoenicurus T. Forster, 1817

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Often subdivided into three genera, with recognition of Rhyacornis (for P. fuliginosus and P. bicolor) and Chaimarrornis (for P. leucocephalus), but recent molecular studies#R #R #R #R #R show that arrangement to be paraphyletic. One option is to recognize a further genus, Adelura (for P. frontalis, P. schisticeps, P. coeruleocephala and P. erythronotus), which name has priority over Phoenicuropsis for this clade#R #R. Here, a more conservative course is taken, whereby all relevant species are treated in Phoenicurus.

See full taxonomic structure and notes