Cossypha
| Cossypha | |
|---|---|
| Snowy-crowned robin-chat (Cossypha niveicapilla) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Cossypha Vigors, 1825 |
| Type species | |
| Turdus vociferans Swainson, 1823 | |
Cossypha are small insectivorous birds, with most species called robin-chats. They were formerly in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now more often treated as part of the Old World flycatcher Muscicapidae.
These are African woodland dwelling species, but some have become adapted to sites around human habitation.
The name Cossypha for the genus was introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825. The word comes from the Classical Greek kossuphos for a blackbird or thrush.
The genus contains the following eight species:
| Image | Common Name | Scientific Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| White-crowned robin-chat | Cossypha albicapillus | Sudanian savanna | |
| White-browed robin-chat | Cossypha heuglini | Sub-Saharan Africa (rare in western and southern Africa) | |
| Chorister robin-chat | Cossypha dichroa | eastern southern Africa | |
| Rüppell's robin-chat | Cossypha semirufa | eastern Afromontane | |
| Snowy-crowned robin-chat | Cossypha niveicapilla | northern Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| Red-capped robin-chat | Cossypha natalensis | central and eastern Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| - | White-headed robin-chat | Cossypha heinrichi | northern Angola and western DR Congo |
| - | Blue-shouldered robin-chat | Cossypha cyanocampter | African tropical rainforest |
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