Cyanoptila cumatilis Thayer & Bangs, 1909
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Zappey's flycatcher (Cyanoptila cumatilis) is a songbird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is migratory, breeding in central China from central Sichuan northeast to the mountains west of Beijing, and wintering south to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Java. It closely similar to, and was formerly considered to be conspecific with, the blue-and-white flycatcher, which breeds further east from northeastern China east to Japan. It is a large flycatcher, 17 cm long. The males have slightly greenish turquoise-blue upperparts, greenish-black face and upper breast, and pure white underparts, faintly greyish on the flanks; the tail is similar colour to the back, with two small white patches on the sides at the base of the tail. Zappey's flycatcher differs from blue-and-white flycatcher in the greener-toned blue and black, compared to the more intense dark blue and black of its relative. The females are similar pattern, but greyish-brown rather than blue, and have a white throat.
Wikipedia contributors, Zappey's flycatcher; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:56:57.100898+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cyanoptila cumatilis Thayer & Bangs, 1909
- Name authority
- Thayer & Bangs, 1909
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Cyanoptila
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMuscicapidae Fleming, 1822
- genusCyanoptila Blyth, 1847
- speciesCyanoptila cumatilis Thayer & Bangs, 1909
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cyanoptila. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Blue-and-white FlycatcherCyanoptila cyanomelana (Temminck, 1829) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=916370 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:32NX8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.