Forktail
| Forktails | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Little forktail (Enicurus scouleri) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Subfamily: | Saxicolinae |
| Genus: | Enicurus Temminck, 1822 |
| Type species | |
| Enicurus coronatus Temminck, 1822 | |
The forktails are small insectivorous birds in the genus Enicurus. They were formerly placed in the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now treated as part of the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Their common name derives from their long forked tail.
These are southeast Asian forest species principally associated with mountain forests and streams. Most nest in rock crevices, laying 2–4 eggs.
Taxonomy
The genus Enicurus was introduced in 1822 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck to accommodate Enicurus coronatus, the white-crowned forktail, which is therefore the type species. Temminck's epithet is considered to be a junior synonym as four years earlier in 1818 Louis Vieillot had coined the binomial name Turdus leschenaulti for the same species. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek henikos meaning "singular" with -ouros meaning "-tailed".
The following cladogram showing the relationships between the species is based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the Old World flycatchers published in 2023. The Bornean forktail (Enicurus borneensis) was not included.
| Enicurus |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Species
The genus contains the following ten species:
- Little forktail, Enicurus scouleri – mountains of eastern Uzbekistan and northeastern Afghanistan through the Himalayas eastward to southeastern China and Taiwan, and southward to northern Indochina
- Javan forktail, Enicurus leschenaulti – Java and Bali
- Northern forktail, Enicurus sinensis — north-east India to Southeast Asia
- Malayan forktail, Enicurus frontalis — Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo
- Bornean forktail, Enicurus borneensis – mountains of northern Borneo
- Spotted forktail, Enicurus maculatus – east Afghanistan to central-south Vietnam
- Sunda forktail, Enicurus velatus – montane Sumatra and Java
- Chestnut-naped forktail, Enicurus ruficapillus – southern Myanmar to southern Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo
- Black-backed forktail, Enicurus immaculatus – rocky streams of northern India to Myanmar, southwestern China, and northwestern Thailand
- Slaty-backed forktail, Enicurus schistaceus – rocky mountain streams of northern India to southern China and southeastern Asia
References
- ↑ "Muscicapidae". Howard & Moore Checklist Online. Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
- ↑ Collar, Nigel (2005), "Family Turdidae (Thrushes)", in del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David (eds.), Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 10, Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 805–807, ISBN 84-87334-72-5
- ↑ Temminck, Coenraad Jacob (1824). Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d'oiseaux, pour servir de suite et de complément aux planches enluminées de Buffon (in French). Vol. 3. Paris: F.G. Levrault. Livraison 19, Plate 113. The 5 volumes were originally issued in 102 livraison (parts), 1820-1839. For the dates see: Dickinson, E.C. (2001). "Systematic notes on Asian birds. 9. The Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées of Temminck & Laugier (1820–1839)". Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden. 335: 7–53.
- ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 85–86.
- ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ↑ Zhao, M.; Gordon Burleigh, J.; Olsson, U.; Alström, P.; Kimball, R.T. (2023). "A near-complete and time-calibrated phylogeny of the Old World flycatchers, robins and chats (Aves, Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 178 107646. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107646.
- ↑ AviList Core Team (21 October 2026). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2026". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2026. Retrieved 5 November 2026.