The woodshrikes are a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, ''Tephrodornis'', of birds in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Vangidae The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy language, Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Tephrodornis'' was introduced in 1832 by the English naturalist

William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

with the large woodshrike as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The genus name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''tephōdēs'' meaning "like ashes" or "ash-coloured" with ''ornis'' meaning "bird". The genus contains four species: * Large woodshrike, ''Tephrodornis virgatus'' * Malabar woodshrike, ''Tephrodornis sylvicola'' *

Common woodshrike The common woodshrike (''Tephrodornis pondicerianus'') is a species of bird found in Asia. It is now usually considered a member of the family Vangidae. It is small and ashy brown with a dark cheek patch and a broad white brow. It is found across ...

, ''Tephrodornis pondicerianus'' * Sri Lanka woodshrike, ''Tephrodornis affinis''

References

Bird genera Birds of Indomalaya Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by William Swainson {{Corvoidea-stub