''Erithacus'' (; (erithacos)) is a genus of
passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
that contains a single extant species, the
European robin
The European robin (''Erithacus rubecula''), known simply as the robin or robin redbreast in the British Isles, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that belongs to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found across Europe, ea ...
(''Erithacus rubecula''). The
Japanese robin and
Ryukyu robin were also placed in this genus (as ''Erithacus akahige'' and ''E. komadori''), but were moved to the genus ''
Larvivora
''Larvivora'' is a genus of small passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that occur in central and eastern Asia.
The species in this genus were all previously classified in other genera. A large molecular phylo ...
'' in 2006.
Fossil species
*†''
Erithacus horusitskyi''
Kessler & Hir, 2012 (Miocene of Hungary)
*†''
Erithacus minor''
Kessler, 2013 (Pliocene of Hungary)
References
Bird genera
Bird genera with one living species
Muscicapidae
{{Muscicapidae-stub