Tarsiger is a genus of eight species of birds in the family Muscicapidae. They are small, mostly brightly coloured insectivorous birds native to Asia and (one species) northeastern Europe; four of the six species are confined to the Sino-Himalayan mountain system. The genus has sometimes been included within the related genus Luscinia, but the species have been found to form a distinct monophyletic group.
The Himalayan bluetail was formerly treated as a subspecies of the red-flanked bluetail. It was split on the basis of its more intense plumage colours, and its ecology and behaviour, being a short-distance altitudinal migrant not a long-distance migrant.
The phylogenetic relationships between the species were determined in a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022:
12Collar, N.J. (2005). "Genus Tarsiger". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol.10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp.754–756. ISBN978-84-87334-72-6.
↑Sangster, G.; Alström, P.; Forsmark, E.; Olsson, U. (2010). "Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57 (1): 380–392. Bibcode:2010MolPE..57..380S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID20656044.
↑Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Anderton, John C. (2012). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Vol.2: Attributes and Status (2nded.). Washington D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Lynx Edicions. pp.393–394. ISBN978-84-96553-87-3.