Ficedula
Genus of birds
title: "Ficedula" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ficedula", "bird-genera", "taxa-named-by-mathurin-jacques-brisson"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/ficedula" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficedula" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
| name = Ficedula | image = Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva).jpg | image_caption = Female red-breasted flycatcher (Ficedula parva) | taxon = Ficedula | authority = Brisson, 1760 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 30+, see text. | synonyms = * Siphia | type_species=Motacilla hypoleuca | type_species_authority=Pallas, 1764
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. The genus name is from Latin and refers to a small fig-eating bird (ficus, "fig") supposed to change into the blackcap in winter.
Extant species
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Ficedula_mugimaki_-_Khao_Yai.jpg" caption="Male [[mugimaki flycatcher"] ::
The genus contains the following species:
::data[format=table]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Đớp ruồi vàng (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Yellow-rumped flycatcher | Ficedula zanthopygia |
| - | Green-backed flycatcher | Ficedula elisae | northeastern China; winters to Malay Peninsula |
| [[File:Narcissus Flycatcher-cropped.jpg | 120px]] | Narcissus flycatcher | Ficedula narcissina |
| [[File:Ryukyu Flycatcher imported from iNaturalist photo 175461055 on 22 June 2024.jpg | 120px]] | Ryukyu flycatcher | Ficedula owstoni |
| [[File:Slaty-backed Flycatcher male.jpg | 120px]] | Slaty-blue flycatcher | Ficedula tricolor |
| [[File:Snowy-browed Flycatcher 0A2A2564.jpg | 120px]] | Snowy-browed flycatcher | Ficedula hyperythra |
| [[File:Ficedula mugimaki 243653507.jpg | 120px]] | Mugimaki flycatcher | Ficedula mugimaki |
| [[File:Slaty-backed Flycatcher.jpg | 120px]] | Slaty-backed flycatcher | Ficedula erithacus |
| [[File:Pygmy Blue-Flycatcher fem - Eaglenest - India (34327315882).jpg | 120px]] | Pygmy flycatcher | Ficedula hodgsoni |
| [[File:Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher 01.jpg | 120px]] | Rufous-gorgeted flycatcher | Ficedula strophiata |
| [[File:Ficedula sapphira.jpg | 120px]] | Sapphire flycatcher | Ficedula sapphira |
| [[File:Ultramarine Flycatcher (male).jpg | 120px]] | Ultramarine flycatcher | Ficedula superciliaris |
| [[File:Little Pied Flycatcher by Tisha Mukherjee 02.jpg | 120px]] | Little pied flycatcher | Ficedula westermanni |
| [[File:Rusty-tailed Flycatcher I IMG 7389.jpg | 120px]] | Rusty-tailed flycatcher | Ficedula ruficauda |
| [[File:Kashmir Flycatcher a Vulnerable Himalayan Species 01.jpg | 120px]] | Kashmir flycatcher | Ficedula subrubra |
| [[File:Male Red-breasted Flycatcher.jpg | 120px]] | Red-breasted flycatcher | Ficedula parva |
| [[File:Ficedula albicilla 255356227.jpg | 120px]] | Taiga flycatcher | Ficedula albicilla |
| [[File:SemicollaredFlycatcher.jpg | 119x119px]] | Semicollared flycatcher | Ficedula semitorquata |
| [[File:Atlas Flycatcher (Ficedula speculigera).jpg | 120px]] | Atlas pied flycatcher | Ficedula speculigera |
| [[File:Ficedula hypoleuca Munkedal.jpg | 120px]] | European pied flycatcher | Ficedula hypoleuca |
| [[File:Collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis).jpg | 120px]] | Collared flycatcher | Ficedula albicollis |
| [[File:Black and orange fly catcher -male.jpg | 120px]] | Black-and-orange flycatcher | Ficedula nigrorufa |
| [[File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.84437 1 - Ficedula dumetoria riedeli (Buttikofer, 1886) - Muscicapidae - bird skin specimen.jpeg | 120px]] | Tanimbar flycatcher | Ficedula riedeli |
| [[File:Ficedula dumetoria.jpg | 120px]] | Rufous-chested flycatcher | Ficedula dumetoria |
| - | Furtive flycatcher | Ficedula disposita | Luzon |
| [[File:Palawan Flycatcher.jpg | 120px]] | Palawan flycatcher | Ficedula platenae |
| [[File:Cyornis rufigula Smit.jpg | 120px]] | Rufous-throated flycatcher | Ficedula rufigula |
| - | Cinnamon-chested flycatcher | Ficedula buruensis | Maluku Islands (Buru, Seram and Kai Besar) |
| - | Sumba flycatcher | Ficedula harterti | Sumba |
| [[File:Ficedula timorensis 107995245.jpg | 120px]] | Black-banded flycatcher | Ficedula timorensis |
| [[File:Little Slaty Flycatcher (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Little slaty flycatcher | Ficedula basilanica |
| [[File:Bundok Flycatcher Male.png | 120px]] | Bundok flycatcher | Ficedula luzoniensis |
| [[File:Cryptic Flycatcher (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Cryptic flycatcher | Ficedula crypta |
| - | Lompobattang flycatcher | Ficedula bonthaina | Lompobattang Massif, Sulawesi |
| [[File:Ficedula henrici 1901.jpg | 120px]] | Damar flycatcher | Ficedula henrici |
| :: |
Former species
Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Ficedula:
- Indian black-naped blue monarch (as Siphia Styani)
Speciation
A 2015 study on genomic pattern of differentiation, also known as islands of speciation by Burri et al., in the Ficedula flycatchers. 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.
Reinforcement
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.
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.
References
References
- Brisson, Mathurin-Jacques. (1760). "Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés". Jean-Baptiste Bauche.
- (1986). "Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 11". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
- (2016). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". International Ornithologists' Union.
- "Hypothymis azurea styani - Avibase".
- (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]].
- (1999). "Reinforcement and other consequences of sympatry". [[The Genetics Society]] ([[Nature Portfolio.
- (2020). "Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive". Lynx Edicions.
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