Spotted Forktail
Enicurus maculatus Vigors, 1831
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.
Spotted Forktail Enicurus maculatus near a stream in Pangot, Uttarkhand, India
Kannan AS · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The spotted forktail (Enicurus maculatus) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Himalayas and the hills of Northeast India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and southern China including Yunnan. Birds of this species are 25 cm with a long tail. The sexes are alike, having a white forehead and a black crown and nape, a black back spotted white, and a broad white wing bar. The tail is deeply forked, graduated black and white. The white spotted back easily identifies this species from other similar sized forktail. Its call is a shrill, screechy KREE, mostly given in flight; it also makes some shrill, squeaky notes while perched. It breeds mostly at 1200–3600 m, and descends to about 600 m in winter. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, where it is found in boulder-strewn torrents, forest streams, and roadside canals.
Wikipedia contributors, Spotted forktail; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:44:39.159228+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Enicurus maculatus Vigors, 1831
- Name authority
- Vigors, 1831
- Common name
- Spotted Forktail
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Enicurus
- 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
- genusEnicurus Temminck, 1822
- speciesEnicurus maculatus Vigors, 1831
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Enicurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Chestnut-naped ForktailEnicurus ruficapillus Temminck, 1832 | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Slaty-backed ForktailEnicurus schistaceus (Hodgson, 1836) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-backed ForktailEnicurus immaculatus (Hodgson, 1836) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-crowned ForktailEnicurus leschenaulti (Vieillot, 1818) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little ForktailEnicurus scouleri Vigors, 1832 | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sunda ForktailEnicurus velatus Temminck, 1822 | 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=559912 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.
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:39V4W. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.