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.

Taxonomy

The genus Sylvietta was introduced in 1839 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye with Sylvietta brachyura Lafresnaye, the Northern crombec, as the type species. 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.

The genus contains the following nine species:

  • 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.