Tarsiger is a genus of eight species ofbirds in the familyMuscicapidae. They are small, mostly brightly colouredinsectivorous birds native toAsia and (one species) northeasternEurope; four of the six species are confined to the Sino-Himalayan mountain system.[1] The genus has sometimes been included within the related genusLuscinia, but the species have been found to form a distinctmonophyletic group.[2]
The Himalayan bluetail was formerly treated as asubspecies of the red-flanked bluetail.[1] It was split on the basis of its more intense plumage colours, and its ecology and behaviour, being a short-distance altitudinal migrant not a long-distance migrant.[8]
The phylogenetic relationships between the species were determined in amolecular phylogenetic study published in 2022:[7]
^abCollar, N.J. (2005)."GenusTarsiger". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A. (eds.).Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 754–756.ISBN978-84-87334-72-6.
^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.Bibcode:2010MolPE..57..380S.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008.PMID20656044.
^Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Anderton, John C. (2012).Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Vol. 2: Attributes and Status (2nd ed.). Washington D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Lynx Edicions. pp. 393–394.ISBN978-84-96553-87-3.
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