Madagascan stonechat

Madagascan stonechat
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Saxicola
Species: S. sibilla
Binomial name
Saxicola sibilla
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms

Saxicola torquatus sibilla

The Madagascan stonechat or Madagascar stonechat (Saxicola sibilla) is a species of stonechat, endemic to Madagascar. It is a small bird, closely similar to the African stonechat in both plumage and behaviour, but distinguished from it by the more extensive black on the throat and minimal orange-red on the upper breast of the males.[1]

Taxonomy

The Madagascan stonechat has generally been considered a subspecies of African stonechat (as Saxicola torquatus sibilla[1]), but recent genetic evidence has shown that it is distinct, more closely related to Reunion stonechat than it is to African stonechat,[2] on which basis it is now accepted as a distinct species.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Urquhart, E., & Bowley, A. (2002): Stonechats. A Guide to the Genus Saxicola. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6024-4
  2. Woog, F., Wink, M., Rastegar-Pouyani, E., Gonzalez, J., & Helm, B. (2008). Distinct taxonomic position of the Madagascar stonechat (Saxicola torquatus sibilla) revealed by nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA. J. Ornithol. 149: 423–430. Full text
  3. IOC World Bird List Family Muscicapidae
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