Sentinel Rock Thrush
Monticola explorator (Vieillot, 1818)
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.
A male Sentinel Rock Thrush in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Brian Gratwicke from DC, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The sentinel rock thrush (Monticola explorator) is a species of passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that is found in Lesotho, South Africa, and Eswatini.
Its natural habitat is rocky outcrops in high-altitude grassland.
It is insectivorous.
Wikipedia contributors, Sentinel rock thrush; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:53:17.194114+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Monticola explorator (Vieillot, 1818)
- Name authority
- (Vieillot, 1818)
- Common name
- Sentinel Rock Thrush
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Monticola
- 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
- genusMonticola F. Boie, 1822
- speciesMonticola explorator (Vieillot, 1818)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Monticola. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| White-throated Rock ThrushMonticola gularis (Swinhoe, 1863) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Monticola imerina (Hartlaub, 1860) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chestnut-bellied Rock ThrushMonticola rufiventris (Jardine & Selby, 1833) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cape Rock ThrushMonticola rupestris (Vieillot, 1818) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rufous-tailed Rock ThrushMonticola saxatilis (Linnaeus, 1766) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Monticola semirufus (Rüppell, 1837) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Short-toed Rock ThrushMonticola brevipes (Waterhouse, 1838) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Miombo Rock ThrushMonticola angolensis Sousa, 1888 | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue-capped Rock ThrushMonticola cinclorhynchus (Vigors, 1832) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little Rock ThrushMonticola rufocinereus (Rüppell, 1837) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Forest Rock ThrushMonticola sharpei (G. R. Gray, 1871) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue Rock ThrushMonticola solitarius (Linnaeus, 1758) | 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=561210 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:44B7X. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.