Chat (bird)


Chats are a group of small Old World insectivorous birds formerly classified as members of the thrush family, but following genetic DNA analysis are now considered to belong to the Old World flycatcher family.
The name is normally applied to the more robust ground-feeding flycatchers found in Europe and Asia and most northern species are strong migrants. There are many genera and these birds in particular make up most of the subfamily Saxicolinae.
Other songbirds called "chats" are:
  • Australian chats, genera Ashbyia and Epthianura of the honeyeater family. They belong to a more ancient lineage than Saxicolinae.
  • American chats, genus Granatellus of the cardinal family, formerly placed in the wood-warbler family. They belong to a more modern lineage than Saxicolinae.
  • Yellow-breasted chat, an enigmatic North American songbird previously placed in the wood-warbler family and now in the monotypic Icteriidae; its true relationships are unresolved.

Taxonomy

The subfamily was introduced in 1825 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors with Saxicola as the type genus.

Genera

The subfamily formerly included fewer species. At the time of the publication of the third edition of the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World in 2003, the genera Myophonus, Brachypteryx and Heinrichia were included in the thrush family Turdidae. Subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the species in these three genera are more closely related to species in Muscicapidae. As a consequence, these three genera are now placed here.Irania – single species: white-throated robinLuscinia – nightingales and relatives Myiomela – robins Calliope – rubythroats Enicurus – forktails Cinclidium – single species: blue-fronted robinMyophonus – whistling thrushes Heinrichia – single species: great shortwingVauriella – jungle flycatchers Leonardina – single species: Bagobo babblerBrachypteryx – shortwings Larvivora – East and South-East Asian robins Ficedula – flycatchers Tarsiger – bush robins and bluetails Heteroxenicus – single species: Gould's shortwingPhoenicurus – redstarts Monticola – rock thrushes Saxicola – stonechats and chats Campicoloides – single species: buff-streaked chatEmarginata – chats Pinarochroa – single species: moorland chatThamnolaea – single species: mocking cliff chatMyrmecocichla – chats Oenanthe – wheatears
The cladogram below is based on a molecular phylogenetic study by Min Zhao and collaborators that was published in 2023. Some regions of the phylogenetic tree were not strongly supported by the sequence data. Both the genera included and the number of species in each genera are taken from the AviList taxonomy.