Rock thrush

The rock thrushes, Monticola, are a genus of chats, medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous songbirds. All are Old World birds, and most are associated with mountainous regions.

Taxonomy
The genus was erected by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1822. Monticola is the Latin word for mountain-dweller or mountaineer. The genus was formerly included in the thrush family Turdidae. Molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2004 and 2010 showed that the species are more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.

The genus contains the following species:


 * White-winged cliff chat, Monticola semirufus (formerly in Thamnolaea)
 * Cape rock thrush, Monticola rupestris
 * Sentinel rock thrush, Monticola explorator
 * Short-toed rock thrush, Monticola brevipes
 * Miombo rock thrush, Monticola angolensis
 * Common rock thrush, Monticola saxatilis
 * Little rock thrush, Monticola rufocinereus
 * Blue rock thrush, Monticola solitarius
 * Chestnut-bellied rock thrush, Monticola rufiventris
 * Blue-capped rock thrush, Monticola cinclorhyncha
 * White-throated rock thrush, Monticola gularis
 * Littoral rock thrush, Monticola imerina
 * Forest rock thrush, Monticola sharpei
 * Benson's rock thrush, Monticola sharpei bensoni
 * Amber Mountain rock thrush, Monticola erythronotus (split from M. sharpei)

Fossil record
Monticola pongraczi (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary)