| Cercotrichas | |
|---|---|
%2c_crop.jpg) | |
| White-browed scrub robin (Cercotrichas leucophrys) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Cercotrichas F. Boie, 1831 |
| Type species | |
| Turdus erythropterusGmelin, 1788=Turdus podobeMüller, 1776 | |
Cercotrichas is agenus of medium-sized insectivorous birds. They were formerly considered to be in thethrush family, (Turdidae), but are more often now treated as part of theOld World flycatcher family, (Muscicapidae).
The genusCercotrichas was introduced in 1831 by the German zoologistFriedrich Boie.[1] Thetype species was subsequently designated asTurdus erythropterusGmelin which is ajunior synonym ofTurdus podobeMüller, theblack scrub robin.[2][3] The genus nameCercotrichas is fromAncient Greekkerkos meaning "tail" andtrikhas meaning "thrush".[4]
This genus formerly included additional species. Amolecular phylogenetic study of theMuscicapidae by Min Zhao and collaborators published in 2023 found that the genusCercotrichas wasparaphyletic.[5] In the rearrangement to createmonophyletic genera five species were moved to the resurrected genusTychaedon that had been introduced in 1917 by the American ornithologistCharles Richmond.[6]
Scrub robins are mainlyAfrican species of open woodland or scrub, which nest in bushes or on the ground, but therufous-tailed scrub robin also breeds in southernEurope and east toPakistan.
The genus contains the following five species:[6]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Kalahari scrub robin | Cercotrichas paena | Kalahari Desert toKaokoveld |
 | Black scrub robin | Cercotrichas podobe | Sahel and montaneArabian Peninsula |
 | Rufous-tailed scrub robin | Cercotrichas galactotes | southwestern Palearctic, Central Asia, Sahel and Horn of Africa |
 | Brown-backed scrub robin | Cercotrichas hartlaubi | sparsely present across central Africa |
 | White-browed scrub robin | Cercotrichas leucophrys | Sub-Saharan Africa (rare in southern Africa and African tropical rainforest) |