Pied Bush Chat
Saxicola caprata (Linnaeus, 1766)
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
The pied bush chat (Saxicola caprata) is a small passerine bird found ranging from West Asia and Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms. It is a familiar bird of countryside and open scrub or grassland where it is found perched at the top of short thorn trees or other shrubs, looking out for insect prey. They pick up insects mainly from the ground, and were, like other chats, placed in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now considered as Old World flycatchers.
They nest in cavities in stone walls or in holes in an embankment, lining the nest with grass and animal hair. The males are black with white shoulder and vent patches whose extent varies among populations. Females are predominantly brownish while juveniles are speckled.
Wikipedia contributors, Pied bush chat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:05:19.794745+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Saxicola caprata (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Common name
- Pied Bush Chat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Saxicola
- 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
- genusSaxicola Bechstein, 1802
- speciesSaxicola caprata (Linnaeus, 1766)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Saxicola. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Saxicola torquatus (Linnaeus, 1766) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Saxicola maurus (Pallas, 1773) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Saxicola ferreus J. E. Gray & G. R. Gray, 1847 | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Saxicola stejnegeri (Parrot, 1908) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Canary Islands Bush ChatSaxicola dacotiae (Meade-Waldo, 1889) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Jerdon's Bush ChatSaxicola jerdoni (Blyth, 1867) | 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=562829 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:6Y3BP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.