Brachypteryx
6 species
Brachypteryx is a genus of passerine birds containing six species known as shortwings, that occurs in southeast Asia.
Shortwings are small birds with long legs, finely pointed bills, short tails and short rounded wings. They are shy elusive ground-dwellers that generally prefer the cover of dense undergrowth.
The genus Brachypteryx was introduced by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1821. The word comes from the classical Greek brakhus mean "short" and pterux meaning "wing". The genus was previously placed in the thrush family Turdidae but in 2010 two separate molecular phylogenetic studies found that species in the genus were more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
- Rusty-bellied shortwing, Brachypteryx hyperythra
- Lesser shortwing, Brachypteryx leucophris
- White-browed shortwing, Brachypteryx montana
- Himalayan shortwing, Brachypteryx cruralis
- Chinese shortwing, Brachypteryx sinensis
- Taiwan shortwing, Brachypteryx goodfellowi
Whilst the white-browed and rusty-bellied shortwings show strong sexual plumage dimorphism, the lesser shortwing is sexually monomorphic.
- Great shortwing, Heinrichia calligyna
- Nilgiri blue robin or Nilgiri shortwingMyiomela major
- Gould's shortwing, Heteroxenicus stellata
Brachypteryx is a genus of passerine birds containing six species known as shortwings, that occurs in southeast Asia.
Shortwings are small birds with long legs, finely pointed bills, short tails and short rounded wings. They are shy elusive ground-dwellers that generally prefer the cover of dense undergrowth.
The genus Brachypteryx was introduced by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1821. The word comes from the classical Greek brakhus mean "short" and pterux meaning "wing". The genus was previously placed in the thrush family Turdidae but in 2010 two separate molecular phylogenetic studies found that species in the genus were more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
- Rusty-bellied shortwing, Brachypteryx hyperythra
- Lesser shortwing, Brachypteryx leucophris
- White-browed shortwing, Brachypteryx montana
- Himalayan shortwing, Brachypteryx cruralis
- Chinese shortwing, Brachypteryx sinensis
- Taiwan shortwing, Brachypteryx goodfellowi
Whilst the white-browed and rusty-bellied shortwings show strong sexual plumage dimorphism, the lesser shortwing is sexually monomorphic.
- Great shortwing, Heinrichia calligyna
- Nilgiri blue robin or Nilgiri shortwingMyiomela major
- Gould's shortwing, Heteroxenicus stellata
