Sericornis is a genus of small, mainly insectivorous birds, the scrubwrens in the family Acanthizidae. Despite the similarity in shape and habits, the true wrens (Troglodytidae) are a quite unrelated group of passerines.
Taxonomy The genus Sericornis was introduced in 1838 by the English ornithologist John Gould with the type species asAcanthiza frontalis Vigors & Horsfield, 1827, the white-browed scrubwren. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek σηρικος/sērikos meaning "silken" with ορνις/ornis, ορνιθος/ornithos meaning "bird".
The genus previously contained additional species but following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study of the scrubwrens in 2018, several species were moved to the resurrected genus Aethomyias and the yellow-throated scrubwren was placed in its own monotypic genus Neosericornis.
The genus contains seven species: Large-billed scrubwren, Sericornis magnirostra Tropical scrubwren or Beccari's scrubwren, Sericornis beccarii - sometimes included in S. magnirostris Large scrubwren, Sericornis nouhuysi Spotted scrubwren, Sericornis maculatus - previously included in S. frontalis Tasmanian scrubwren or brown scrubwren, Sericornis humilis - previously included in S. frontalis Atherton scrubwren, Sericornis keri White-browed scrubwren, Sericornis frontalis
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