Sylvietta, the crombecs, is a genus of African warblers. Formerly placed in the massively paraphyletic family Sylviidae, it is now considered to belong to a newly recognized family found only in Africa, Macrosphenidae.
| Crombecs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Green crombec (Sylvietta virens) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Macrosphenidae |
| Genus: | Sylvietta Lafresnaye, 1839 |
| Type species | |
| Sylvietta brachyura[1] Lafresnaye, 1839 | |
| Species | |
|
9-10, see text | |
Taxonomy
editThe genus Sylvietta was introduced in 1839 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye with Sylvietta brachyura Lafresnaye, the Northern crombec, as the type species.[2][3] The genus name is Modern Latin meaning "little warbler" or "woodland sprite", a diminutive of the genus Sylvia that had been introduced by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769.[4]
The genus contains the following nine species:[5]
- Green crombec, Sylvietta virens – west and central Africa
- Lemon-bellied crombec, Sylvietta denti – west and central Africa
- White-browed crombec, Sylvietta leucophrys – east-central Africa
- Northern crombec, Sylvietta brachyura – east, central and west Africa
- Philippa's crombec, Sylvietta philippae – acacia steppes of northwestern Somalia and adjacent Ethiopia
- Red-capped crombec, Sylvietta ruficapilla – southern central Africa
- Red-faced crombec, Sylvietta whytii – east Africa
- Somali crombec, Sylvietta isabellina – dry acacia steppes of Ethiopia, Somalia, and northern Kenya
- Long-billed crombec, Sylvietta rufescens – southern central and south Africa
References
edit- ↑ "Macrosphenidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ↑ de Lafresnaye, Frédéric (1839). "Quelques nouvelles espèce d'oiseaux". Revue Zoologique (in French). 2: 257-259 [258].
- ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 207.
- ↑ Jobling, James A. "Sylvietta". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ↑ AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2006). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-96553-06-X.