Ficedula

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Wikipedia

Ficedula
Female red-breasted flycatcher (Ficedula parva)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Subfamily: Saxicolinae
Genus: Ficedula
Brisson, 1760
Type species
Motacilla hypoleuca
Pallas, 1764
Species

30+, see text.

Synonyms
  • Siphia

The Ficedula flycatchers are a genus of Old World flycatchers. The genus is the largest in the family, containing around thirty species. They have sometimes been included in the genus Muscicapa. The genus is found in Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species are highly migratory, whereas other species are sedentary.

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus was introduced by the French naturalist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the European pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) as the type species.[1][2] The genus name is from Latin and refers to a small fig-eating bird (ficus, "fig") supposed to change into the blackcap in winter.[3]

Extant species

Male mugimaki flycatcher

The genus contains the following species:[4]

ImageCommon NameScientific NameDistribution
Yellow-rumped flycatcherFicedula zanthopygiaManchuria, China and Korea; winters to Malay Peninsula and Sumatra
-Green-backed flycatcherFicedula elisaenortheastern China; winters to Malay Peninsula
Narcissus flycatcherFicedula narcissinaKuril Islands, Manchuria and Japan; winters to Hainan, northeastern Borneo and Philippines
Ryukyu flycatcherFicedula owstoniRyukyu Islands
Slaty-blue flycatcherFicedula tricolorHimalayas, central China, Yunnan and northern Indochina
Snowy-browed flycatcherFicedula hyperythraHimalayas, southern China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia
Mugimaki flycatcherFicedula mugimakiMongolia, Korea, southern Siberia and northeastern China; winters to Southeast Asia
Slaty-backed flycatcherFicedula erithacuseastern Himalayas, central/southern China; winters to northern Indochina
Pygmy flycatcherFicedula hodgsonieastern Himalayas and Southeast Asia
Rufous-gorgeted flycatcherFicedula strophiataHimalayas, Patkai, central/southern China, northern Indochina and eastern Vietnam
Sapphire flycatcherFicedula sapphiraEastern Himalaya, central/southern China and northern Indochina
Ultramarine flycatcherFicedula superciliariseastern Afghanistan to Hengduan Mountains; winters in India and northwestern Indochina
Little pied flycatcherFicedula westermanniHimalayas and Southeast Asia
Rusty-tailed flycatcherFicedula ruficaudaTian Shan and Himalayas; winters to Western Ghats
Kashmir flycatcherFicedula subrubraNilgiri Mountains and Sri Lanka
Red-breasted flycatcherFicedula parvaEurope and Caucasus ; winters to South Asia
Taiga flycatcherFicedula albicillaSiberia; winters to Indomalaya
Semicollared flycatcherFicedula semitorquataeastern Mediterranean; winters to East Africa
Atlas pied flycatcherFicedula speculigeranorth-west Africa
European pied flycatcherFicedula hypoleucaEurope; winters to equatorial Africa
Collared flycatcherFicedula albicollisEurope; winters to southeastern Africa
Black-and-orange flycatcherFicedula nigrorufasouthern Western Ghats
Tanimbar flycatcherFicedula riedeliTanimbar Islands (Larat and Yamdena)
Rufous-chested flycatcherFicedula dumetoriaMalesia
-Furtive flycatcherFicedula dispositaLuzon
Palawan flycatcherFicedula platenaePalawan
Rufous-throated flycatcherFicedula rufigulaSulawesi
-Cinnamon-chested flycatcherFicedula buruensisMaluku Islands (Buru, Seram and Kai Besar)
-Sumba flycatcherFicedula hartertiSumba
Black-banded flycatcherFicedula timorensisTimor
Little slaty flycatcherFicedula basilanicaPhilippines Mindanao, Leyte and Samar
Bundok flycatcherFicedula luzoniensismontane Philippines
Cryptic flycatcherFicedula cryptaMindanao
-Lompobattang flycatcherFicedula bonthainaLompobattang Massif, Sulawesi
Damar flycatcherFicedula henriciDamar Island

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Ficedula:

Speciation

A 2015 study on genomic pattern of differentiation, also known as islands of speciation by Burri et al., in the Ficedula flycatchers.[6] Islands of differentiation are genomic regions with elevated measures of genetic differentiation. The authors examined island of differentiation within genomes and sought to answer (1) how they are formed and (2) what role they have in speciation. The flycatcher species complex is made up of four sister species and has a broad species range over all of Europe and parts of North Africa. The authors sequenced 200 genomes from 10 populations to an average of 14x coverage.

The authors tested two prominent models for the accumulation of islands of speciation, speciation with gene flow and linkage selection. Some of the expected patterns for islands of differentiation forming accumulating under a gene flow model and reduced sequence divergence outside the islands of differentiation compared to the rest of the genome and expansion of the islands of differentiation as reproductive isolation is reinforced during the speciation process. Based on the genomic data, expectations from the speciation with gene flow model were not well supported. Instead there was more support for the linkage selection model for islands of variation model. Such as an inverse correlation between recombination rate and differentiation, low amounts of ancestral variation in low recombining regions, and a positive relationship with nucleotide diversity and recombination rate. Some of the main findings from the study were:

  • The differentiation landscapes were very similar across the four flycatcher species.
  • Tests using population genetic parameters to test assumptions indicated that differentiation landscape across the genomes were likely not caused by gene flow.
  • The signatures for background selection highly outweighed selective sweep signatures.

By reinforcement

F. hypoleuca vis-a-vis F. albicollis are speciating from each other by reinforcement, as evidenced by differences between colouration in sympatry versus allopatry. This is evidence for speciation by reinforcement.[7]

Description

The flycatchers in the genus Ficedula are typically small with slender bodies and rounded heads. In many cases they are sexually dimorphic in their plumage, with the males being brightly or strikingly coloured and the females being duller or drabber.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Brisson, Mathurin-Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 38; Vol. 3, p. 369.
  2. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cotterell, G. William (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 11. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 335.
  3. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4..
  4. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2016). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". World Bird List Version 7.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Hypothymis azurea styani - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
  6. ↑ Burri, Reto; Nater, Alexander; Kawakami, Takeshi; et al. (November 2015). "Linked selection and recombination rate variation drive the evolution of the genomic landscape of differentiation across the speciation continuum of Ficedula flycatchers". Genome Research. 25 (11): 1634–1645. doi:10.1101/gr.196485.115. ISSN 1088-9051. PMC 4617962. PMID 26355005.
  7. ↑ Noor, Mohamed A. F. (1999). "Reinforcement and other consequences of sympatry". Heredity. 83 (5). The Genetics Society (Nature): 503–508. doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6886320. ISSN 0018-067X. PMID 10620021. (ORCID 0000-0002-5400-4408 GS 5nkhrpUAAAAJ).
  8. ↑ Taylor, B. (2020). "Old World Flycatchers (Muscicapidae)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.muscic3.01. S2CID 216288554. Retrieved 30 May 2016.(subscription required)

Further reading