Madagascan stonechat | |
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Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Genus: | Saxicola |
Species: | S. sibilla |
Binomial name | |
Saxicola sibilla (Linnaeus, 1766) |
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Synonyms | |
Saxicola torquatus sibilla |
Saxicola torquatus sibilla
The Madagascan stonechat or Madagascar stonechat (Saxicola sibilla) is a species of stonechat, endemic to Madagascar. It is a small bird, closely similar to the African stonechat in both plumage and behaviour, but distinguished from it by the more extensive black on the throat and minimal orange-red on the upper breast of the males.
The Madagascan stonechat has generally been considered a subspecies of African stonechat (as Saxicola torquatus sibilla), but recent genetic evidence has shown that it is distinct, more closely related to Reunion stonechat than it is to African stonechat, on which basis it is now accepted as a distinct species.