Cossypha are small insectivorous birds, with most species called robin-chats. They were formerly in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now more often treated as part of the Old World flycatcher Muscicapidae.
These are African woodland dwelling species, but some have become adapted to sites around human habitation.
The name Cossypha for the genus was introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825. The word comes from the Classical Greek kossuphos for a blackbird or thrush.
The genus contains the following eight species: