Birds Guide

The scrub robins or bush chats are medium-sized insectivorous birds in the genus Cercotrichas. They were formerly in the thrush family (Turdidae), but are more often now treated as part of the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae).

These are mainly African species of open woodland or scrub, which nest in bushes or on the ground, but the Rufous Bush Chat also breeds in southern Europe and east to Pakistan.

Species are:

• Forest Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas leucosticta
  Bearded Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas quadrivirgata
  Miombo Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas barbata
  Brown Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas signata
  Brown-backed Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas hartlaubi
  Red-backed Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas leucophrys
  Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin or Rufous Bush Chat, Cercotrichas galactotes
  Kalahari Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas paena
  African Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas minor
  Karoo Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas coryphaeus
  Black Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas podobe