# Rock thrush > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rock_thrush > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rock_thrush.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_thrush > Source revision: 1348788514 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Genus of birds}} {{Automatic Taxobox | name = Rock thrushes | image = Monticola brevipes, Namibia 1.jpg | image_caption = Male [short-toed rock thrush](/source/short-toed_rock_thrush) (''Monticola brevipes'') | taxon = Monticola | authority = [F. Boie](/source/Friedrich_Boie), 1822 | subdivision_ranks = [Species](/source/Species) | subdivision = See text | synonyms = {{Species list |Pseudocossyphus|F Boie, 1826 }} | type_species = ''[Turdus saxatilis](/source/Common_rock_thrush)'' | type_species_authority=[Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), 1766 }} The '''rock thrushes''', '''''Monticola''''', are a [genus](/source/genus) of [chat](/source/chat_(bird))s, medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous [songbird](/source/songbird)s. All are [Old World](/source/Old_World) birds, and most are associated with mountainous regions. ==Taxonomy== The genus ''Monticola'' was erected by the German naturalist [Friedrich Boie](/source/Friedrich_Boie) in 1822. Boie listed two species, ''saxatilis'' and ''cyanus'' but did not designate the [type species](/source/type_species).{{ cite journal | last=Boie | first=F. | year=1822 | title=Ueber Classification, insonderheit der europäischen Vogel | journal=Isis von Oken | volume=10–11 | at=Col. 552 | language=de | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27515507 }} In 1826 Boie introduced a different genus name, ''Petrocossyphus'', containing a single species, ''Turdus saxatilis'' [Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus).{{ cite journal | last=Boie | first=Friedrich | author-link=Friedrich Boie | year=1826 | title=Generalübersicht der ornithologischen Ordnungen, Familien und Gattungen | journal=Isis von Oken | language=German | volume=19 | at=Cols 969–981 [972] | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27511178 }} This new genus name was not accepted by other ornithologists as according to [Hugh Edwin Strickland](/source/Hugh_Edwin_Strickland): "The former name ought therefore to stand, as authors ought no more to alter their own generic names when once published than those of others".{{ cite journal | last=Strickland | first=Hugh Edwin | author-link=Hugh Edwin Strickland | year=1841 | title=Commentary on Mr. G.R. Gray's ''Genera of Birds''. 1840 (continued) | journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology | volume=7 | pages=26-41 [26] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2314721 }} The type species of the genus ''Monticola'' is ''Turdus saxatilis'' Linnaeus, the [common rock thrush](/source/common_rock_thrush).{{ cite book | last=Gray | first=George Robert | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1847 | title=The Genera of Birds : comprising their generic characters, a notice of the habits of each genus, and an extensive list of species referred to their several genera | volume=1 | location=London | publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans | page=220 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40012358 }} The title page has 1849. For the publication date see {{ cite journal | last=Bruce | first=Murray D. | date=2023 | title=The Genera of Birds (1844–1849) by George Robert Gray: A review of its part publication, dates, new nominal taxa, suppressed content and other details | journal=Sherbornia | volume=8 | issue=1 | pages=1–93 [18] | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368392529 | ref=none }}{{ cite book | last1=Mayr | first1=Ernst | last2=Paynter | first2=Raymond A. Jr. | year=1964 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 10 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=135 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14486324 }} ''Monticola'' is the [Latin](/source/Latin) word for mountain-dweller or mountaineer.{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Monticola | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Monticola | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=2 June 2025 }} The genus was formerly included in the thrush family [Turdidae](/source/Turdidae),{{ cite book | last=Collar | first=N.J. | year=2005 | chapter=Family Turdidae (Thrushes) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Christie | editor3-first=D.A. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-87334-72-6 | pages=514-807 [515] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0010unse/page/515/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }} but [molecular phylogenetic](/source/molecular_phylogenetic) studies published in 2004 and 2010 showed that the species are more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family [Muscicapidae](/source/Muscicapidae).{{ cite journal | last1=Voelker | first1=G. | last2=Spellman | first2=G.M. | year=2004 | title=Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA evidence of polyphyly in the avian superfamily Muscicapoidea | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=30 | issue=2 | pages=386–394 | doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00191-X | pmid=14715230 }}{{ cite journal | last1=Sangster | first1=G. | last2=Alström | first2=P. | last3=Forsmark | first3=E. | last4=Olsson | first4=U. | year=2010 | title=Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=57 | issue=1 | pages=380–392 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008 | pmid=20656044}} The genus contains the following species:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=February 2025 | title=Chats, Old World flycatchers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/chats/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=2 June 2025}} {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Common name !! Scientific name !! Distribution |- | 125px || [Blue-capped rock thrush](/source/Blue-capped_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola cinclorhyncha''|| Himalayas; winters to [western](/source/Western_Ghats) and [eastern](/source/Eastern_Ghats) Ghats |- | 125px || [White-throated rock thrush](/source/White-throated_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola gularis''|| [Manchuria](/source/Manchuria) |- | 125px || [Chestnut-bellied rock thrush](/source/Chestnut-bellied_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola rufiventris''|| Himalayas, [Purvanchal Range](/source/Purvanchal_Range) and southern China |- | 125px || [Short-toed rock thrush](/source/Short-toed_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola brevipes''|| arid areas of southwestern Angola and southern Africa |- | 125px || [Sentinel rock thrush](/source/Sentinel_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola explorator''|| southern Africa |- | 125px || [Amber Mountain rock thrush](/source/Amber_Mountain_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola erythronotus''|| [Amber Mountain](/source/Montagne_d'Ambre_National_Park), Madagascar |- | 125px || [Forest rock thrush](/source/Forest_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola sharpei''|| Madagascar |- | 125px || [Benson's rock thrush](/source/Benson's_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola sharpei bensoni''|| southern-central Madagascar |- | 125px || [Littoral rock thrush](/source/Littoral_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola imerina''|| southern coastal Madagascar |- | 125px || [Little rock thrush](/source/Little_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola rufocinereus''|| eastern [Afromontane](/source/Afromontane) |- | 125px || [Common rock thrush](/source/Common_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola saxatilis''|| temperate rocky regions of Palearctic; winters to Africa |- | 125px || [Blue rock thrush](/source/Blue_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola solitarius''|| temperate and elevated areas of Palearctic;
winters to Africa, Arabia and Indomalaya |- | 125px || [Cape rock thrush](/source/Cape_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola rupestris''|| southern Africa |- | 125px || [Miombo rock thrush](/source/Miombo_rock_thrush) ||''Monticola angolensis''|| [Miombo](/source/Miombo) woodlands |- | 125px || [White-winged cliff chat](/source/White-winged_cliff_chat) ||''Monticola semirufus''|| [Ethiopian Highlands](/source/Ethiopian_Highlands) |- |} ==Fossil record== ''[Monticola pongraczi](/source/Monticola_pongraczi)'' ([Pliocene](/source/Pliocene) of Beremend, Hungary) Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149. ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Further reading== *{{cite journal | last1=Outlaw | first1=R.K. | last2=Voelker | first2=G. | last3=Outlaw | first3=D.C. | year=2007 | title=Molecular systematics and historical biogeography of the Rock-thrushes (Muscicapidae: ''Monticola'') | journal=The Auk | volume=124 | issue=2 | pages=561–577 | doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[561:MSAHBO]2.0.CO;2 | doi-access=free }}{{open access}} {{Passerida|M.|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1050525}} ==External links== {{Commons category|Monticola}} *[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/thrushes-turdidae Rock thrush videos] on the Internet Bird Collection Category:Chats (birds) * {{muscicapidae-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rock thrush](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_thrush) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_thrush?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.