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 ''Muscicapa'' is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and therein to the typical flycatchers of subfamily Muscicapinae. They are widespread across Europe, Africa and Asia with most species o ...

''. 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

The genus contains the following species: * Rusty-tailed flycatcher (''Ficedula ruficauda'') * European pied flycatcher (''Ficedula hypoleuca'') * Atlas pied flycatcher (''Ficedula speculigera'') * Collared flycatcher (''Ficedula albicollis'') * Semicollared flycatcher (''Ficedula semitorquata'') *

Yellow-rumped flycatcher The yellow-rumped flycatcher (''Ficedula zanthopygia''), also known as Korean flycatcher or tricolor flycatcher, is a species of flycatcher found in eastern Asia. A distinctive species with almost no look-alike other than the narcissus flycatcher ...

(''Ficedula zanthopygia'') * Narcissus flycatcher (''Ficedula narcissina'') * Ryukyu flycatcher (''Ficedula owstoni'') * Green-backed flycatcher (''Ficedula elisae'') * Mugimaki flycatcher (''Ficedula mugimaki'') * Slaty-backed flycatcher (''Ficedula erithacus'') * Pygmy flycatcher (''Ficedula hodgsoni'') * Rufous-chested flycatcher (''Ficedula dumetoria'') *

Tanimbar flycatcher The Tanimbar flycatcher (''Ficedula riedeli'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found on the Tanimbar Islands. Its habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane f ...

(''Ficedula riedeli'') * Rufous-gorgeted flycatcher (''Ficedula strophiata'') * Red-breasted flycatcher (''Ficedula parva'') * Taiga flycatcher (''Ficedula albicilla'') * Kashmir flycatcher (''Ficedula subrubra'') * Snowy-browed flycatcher (''Ficedula hyperythra'') * Little slaty flycatcher (''Ficedula basilanica'') *

Rufous-throated flycatcher The rufous-throated flycatcher (''Ficedula rufigula'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, an ...

(''Ficedula rufigula'') *

Cinnamon-chested flycatcher The cinnamon-chested flycatcher (''Ficedula buruensis'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Buru, Seram, and Kai Besar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. References cin ...

(''Ficedula buruensis'') *

Damar flycatcher The Damar flycatcher (''Ficedula henrici'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is affected by habitat loss. Having turned out to ...

(''Ficedula henrici'') * Sumba flycatcher (''Ficedula harterti'') *

Palawan flycatcher The Palawan flycatcher (''Ficedula platenae'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found only in the region of Palawan. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habit ...

(''Ficedula platenae'') * Cryptic flycatcher (''Ficedula crypta'') *

Bundok flycatcher The Bundok flycatcher (''Ficedula luzoniensis'') or thicket flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest is an ...

(''Ficedula luzoniensis'') *

Furtive flycatcher The furtive flycatcher (''Ficedula disposita'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found only on the island of Luzon. Its natural habitats ar tropical moist lowland forests and tropical moist monta ...

(''Ficedula disposita'') *

Lompobattang flycatcher The Lompobattang flycatcher (''Ficedula bonthaina''), also spelt Lompobatang flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Indonesia island of Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an isl ...

(''Ficedula bonthaina'') *

Little pied flycatcher The little pied flycatcher (''Ficedula westermanni'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanma ...

(''Ficedula westermanni'') *

Ultramarine flycatcher The ultramarine flycatcher or the white-browed blue flycatcher (''Ficedula superciliaris'') is a small arboreal Old World flycatcher in the ficedula family that breeds in the foothills of the Himalayas and winters in southern India. Description ...

(''Ficedula superciliaris'') * Slaty-blue flycatcher (''Ficedula tricolor'') *

Sapphire flycatcher The sapphire flycatcher (''Ficedula sapphira'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist m ...

(''Ficedula sapphira'') *

Black-and-orange flycatcher The black-and-orange flycatcher (''Ficedula nigrorufa'') or black-and-rufous flycatcher is a species of flycatcher endemic to the central and southern Western Ghats, the Nilgiris and Palni hill ranges in southern India. It is unique among the ...

(''Ficedula nigrorufa'') * Black-banded flycatcher (''Ficedula timorensis'')

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.

By reinforcement

'' F. hypoleuca'' ''vis-a-vis'' '' F. albicollis'' are speciating from each other by reinforcement, as evidenced by differences between colouration in

sympatry In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

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 Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

, with the males being brightly or strikingly coloured and the females being duller or drabber.