Cover image of Mountain Chat by Gerald Wingate – Britannica Bay, Western Cape.

Identification

The Mountain Chat or Mountain Wheatear is a handsome and conspicuous bird. They are polymorphic, meaning that the males are found in two differing colour forms. Males can be either grey or black, and with or without white shoulder patches and grey or white crowns. Black form males are slightly more common, accounting for some 54% of the population, while grey birds make up the remaining 46% of males.

Black morph: The overall colouration is jet black. The crown, forehead and nape can be white, black, dark ash-grey or pale grey. The upper tail coverts and rump are white and the tail is black with white outer feathers (diagnostic). The shoulder patch may be absent or strikingly white. The belly is most often black but can be white or mottled white and grey. The flight feathers are dark brownish-black. The bill, legs and feet are black and the eyes are dark brown.

Grey morph: The entire body and underwings are ash-grey. The upper tail coverts and rump are white and the tail is black with white outer tail feathers (diagnostic). The white shoulder patch is variable in size and in some males may be absent all together. The crown is normally ash-grey but can sometimes be white. Underparts are pale ash-grey and the belly too can occasionally be pure white. The under tail may be black, white or grey. The flight feathers are dark brownish-black. The bill, legs and feet are black and the eyes are dark brown.

Females and juveniles are more uniform in their appearance and are entirely sooty brownish-black but share the black and white rump and tail pattern of the males.

Similar species: Black males are most easily mistaken for Arnot’s Chat (Myrmecocichla arnoti) but that species has an all black rump and tail. Additionally, the ranges of the two species are not known to overlap and they both occupy very different habitats.

Confusion is perhaps most likely between female/juvenile Mountain Chats and the Ant-eating Chat (Myrmecocichla formicivora). Both species co-occur over a wide area, but they have different habitat preferences. The Ant-eating Chat is smaller and shorter-tailed with a dark rump and tail and conspicuous white panels in the wings.

The Karoo Chat (Emarginata schlegelii) may also be mistaken for the grey morph Mountain Chat but the Karoo Chat is smaller and has a grey not white rump.

Status and Distribution

The Mountain Chat is a common resident but may move locally in response to food availability in arid areas. It is near-endemic to Southern Africa and extends from south-western Angola along the western and central parts of Namibia into South Africa where it is widespread across the interior. The Mountain Chat is essentially absent from the Kalahari and the Lowveld, as well as the eastern and southern coastlines in South Africa.

Major historical changes in distribution are unlikely. Its preferred habitat remains relatively secure and the species is under no immediate threat.

In the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape, the Mountain Chat appears to have benefitted from acute overgrazing. This has led to the formation of deep and extensive erosion gullies providing suitable habitat for this species.

Habitat

The Mountain Chat inhabits rugged mountain slopes, rocky hills and outcrops, valley slopes, erosion gullies, quarries and also boulder-strewn flat terrain. Vegetation in its habitat ranges from arid Karoo scrub to grassland. The Mountain Chat generally avoids woodland. It will utilise human habitations such as houses and farmyards where these occur close to suitable natural habitat.

Behaviour

Mountain Chats are usually found singly, in pairs or small family groups. Flies low from perch to perch and moves restlessly over rocks with long hops. It usually perches conspicuously on boulders, rocks, termite mounds, trees, or buildings. The Mountain Chat becomes tame, yet remains wary in and around human settlements.

Forages on the ground and on rocks and captures prey by pecking items from the substrate or after a short dash. Also drops onto prey from a perch or hawks insects in flight, frequently returning to the same perch. The Mountain Chat eats mainly invertebrates such as spiders, solifuges, millipedes, centipedes, grasshoppers, termites, ants, flies, bugs, and beetles. They are also known to consume some small fruits and seeds.

Mountain Chats are monogamous birds that nest solitarily. They are also territorial and defend the nest area against conspecifics, other chats, Fiscal Flycatcher (Melaenornis silens), and the Southern Fiscal (Lanius collaris).

The nest is a neat, shallow cup lined with hair, wool or the plumes of fluffy seeds. The nest is built on a messy foundation of debris that can include twigs, grass, trapdoor spider nest entrances and other spider webs, assorted insect larval and pupal cases, bark, dried moss, bits of dung, snake skins and small stones etc. A nest site is selected under a hillside boulder, a cavity in a rock, wall or building, or almost any suitable space around farmyards or abandoned buildings. Nests are built entirely by the female. Successful nest sites are frequently used in successive years and breeding is opportunistic after rain in arid areas.

2-4 (usually 3) eggs are laid per clutch and all incubation is performed by the female only. The female will leave the nest at times to forage and the males presence near the nest increases as incubation progresses. He is most attentive just before hatching, when he becomes very protective, chasing conspecifics and any other black-and-white bird species.

Newly hatched young are fed a diet of insects and their larvae, by both parents. Mountain Chats often raise two or three broods per season, and some broods are parasitised by Diderick Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius).

Further Resources

Species text adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Itxaso Quintana, Johan and Estelle van Rooyen, Gerald Wingate, Pieter La Grange and Zenobia van Dyk is acknowledged.

Other common names: Mountain Wheatear (Alt. English); Bergwagter (Afrikaans); Khaloli (South Sotho); Traquet montagnard (French); Bergschmätzer (German); Bergtapuit (Dutch); Chasco-montês (Portuguese)

A list of bird species in this format is available here.

Recommended citation format: Tippett, R.M. 2023. Mountain Chat Oenanthe monticola. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2023/06/22/mountain-chat-oenanthe-monticola/

Bird identification, birding

Cover image of Tractrac Chat by Gregg Darling – Spitzkoppe, Namibia – BirdPix No. 13744

Identification

The Tractrac Chat is a small, pale coloured species with an upright stance and longish legs. Appears long-billed and short-tailed in the field. The bill, legs and feet are black and the sexes are alike.

It is a somewhat variable species with five recognised races across its range. Birds from Namibia are very pale and can appear almost pure white, while birds from the south of its range in the Karoo are typically darker with browner, more buffy plumage.

The upperparts vary in colour from almost white (Namib) through pale grey-brown to sandy-brown (central Karoo). The ear coverts are slightly darker than the rest of the upperparts. The flight feathers in the folded wings have pale whitish to buff edges. Underparts are mostly whitish but may be grey-white with sandy-buff flanks in the central Karoo. By far the most important distinguishing feature is the colouration and patterning of the rump and tail. The Tractrac Chat has a white to off-white rump and tail base with a broad, black wedge-shaped marking on the lower tail. This is diagnostic and most easily observed in flight.

Juveniles resemble the adults but are spotted with buff above and have dusky mottling below.

In South Africa the Tractrac Chat is most easily mistaken for the Sickle-winged Chat (Emarginata sinuata). The two can bear a close resemblance, especially from distance. They are best told apart by the colouration of the rump and upper tail which are white or off-white in the Tractrac Chat and pale rufous in the Sickle-winged Chat. Both species show a black triangle or wedge-shaped marking on the lower tail.

The near-white Namibian birds are most likely to be confused with the Karoo Chat (Emarginata schlegelli) but that species has a longer tail and all-black central tail feathers (Note that Karoo Chats in Namibia are also markedly paler than their South African counterparts and have cream-white to buff rumps).

Status and Distribution

The Tractrac Chat is a common resident. It is, however, known to be locally nomadic due to unpredictable rainfall in the arid regions it inhabits.

It is near-endemic to Southern Africa, ranging from south-western Angola through western and southern Namibia to the central Karoo in South Africa where it is most widespread. The Tractrac Chat’s major population concentration is centred on Bushmanland in the Northern Cape province. There is a distinct, narrow extension of its range in the south-west that follows the arid corridor of the Tanqua Karoo.

The Tractrac Chat is not threatened, but influenced by land use as it is rare in heavily grazed Karoo shrublands.

Habitat

The Tractrac Chat inhabits arid areas with flat, open plains and sparse scrub, low bushes and plenty of bare ground. Favoured habitats include gravel plains, sandy flats, sparse stony grassland, dry dwarf shrublands and low dunes with scant vegetation. It is not generally found in broken terrain. It is often the most conspicuous bird species in such desolate habitats.

Normally avoids human habitation in South Africa but may associate with buildings in the true desert regions of Namibia.

Behaviour

The Tractrac Chat is usually encountered singly or in pairs, and rarely in family groups. Perches on top of low bushes, stones or fence posts. It is known to defend its foraging and nesting area against rivals and also from Karoo Chats. It may occasionally flick its wings and raise the tail, but less deliberately than the Sickle-winged or Familiar chat (Oenanthe familiaris). Hovers briefly before dropping down to perch or ground when alarmed, otherwise tame and inquisitive.

Forages mainly on the ground, including on gravel roads, where it scavenges road-killed insects. Feeds primarily on insects and other invertebrates such as flies, beetles, termites, ants, plant hoppers, spiders and snails.

The Tractrac Chat is a monogamous and solitary nester. The nest is a neat, deep cup lined with fluffy seeds, and set on a foundation of dry twigs. Nests are placed on the ground under a shrub or againtst a stone or rock. The nest is not reused, but several old nests may be clustered within in the vicinity. Egg laying dates vary according to rainfall but is mainly during September and October. 2-3 eggs are laid per clutch and incubation is discontinuous and performed by both sexes. The duration of the incubation period is unrecorded. The newly hatched young are rufous coloured, with long, dark grey down on dark feather tracts. The fledging period lasts around 18 days.

Further Resources

Species text adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Gerald Wingate, Gregg Darling, Johan and Estelle van Rooyen and Sybrand Venter is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Woestynspekvreter (Afrikaans); Traquet tractrac (French); Namibschmätzer (German); Woestijn-spekvreter (Dutch); Chasco-pálido (Portuguese)

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2023. Tractrac Chat Emarginata tractrac. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at http://thebdi.org/2023/06/12/tractrac-chat-emarginata-tractrac/

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding

Cover image of Sickle-winged Chat by Vaughan Jessnitz – St. Helena Bay, Western Cape – BirdPix No. 152671

Identification

The Sickle-winged Chat is a small, dull coloured species with a pale eye-ring, an upright posture and fairly long legs, giving it a slender appearance.

The upperparts are greyish-brown which contrast with the pale buffy underparts. The flight feathers have buffy edges. Like other chats, the most distinguishing feature is the colouration and patterning of the rump and tail. In the Sickle-winged Chat the rump and tail are pale pinkish-orange with whitish outer tail feathers, and a broad, black triangular marking on the lower tail. This is diagnostic and most easily observed in flight. The bill, legs and feet are black and the sexes are alike.

Juveniles resemble the adults but are spotted with buff above and have dusky mottling below.

Most easily mistaken for the Familiar Chat (Oenanthe familiaris) but that species has a darker, rufous-orange rump and an inverted black ‘T-shaped’ marking on the tail.

The Tractrac Chat (Emarginata tractrac) is normally paler but with a similar tail pattern. The Tractrac Chat differs in having a whitish (not pale rufous) rump and tail. Tractrac Chats from the central and upper Karoo in South Africa are browner than in other regions and look very similar to the Sickle-winged Chat. However, the rump and upper tail colours still differ.

The Sickle-winged Chat gets its name from the narrow, tapered tip to the outer primary feather in each wing. This feature is usually only be observed when a bird is held in the hand.

Status and Distribution

The Sickle-winged Chat is a common resident and is endemic to Southern Africa. Its distribution includes most parts of the Nama-Karoo and Succulent Karoo biomes in South Africa and southern Namibia, and extends into the Western Cape and to the grassland biome in the Free State, Lesotho and marginally into KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

It is known to undertake some seasonal movements in winter but the patterns are poorly understood. There is no evidence of any changes to its historical range, but the Sickle-winged Chat may have benefitted from agriculture, including from overgrazing. The Sickle-winged Chat is not considered threatened.

Habitat

The Sickle-winged Chat is mainly a bird of flat, open semi-arid Karoo scrub and scrubby, heavily-grazed grasslands. It also inhabits dry fynbos and Renosterbos shrublands in the Western Cape and Alpine grasslands in the Lesotho highlands and adjoining Drakensberg Mountains. It also inhabits cultivated and fallow lands with well-grazed pastures. Seldom associated with human habitation.

The Sickle-winged Chat is most numerous in the grassier, eastern parts of the Karoo followed by Alpine grasslands.

Behaviour

The Sickle-winged Chat is fairly conspicuous as it frequently perches in exposed positions. It occurs singly, in pairs or less often in family parties. Perches on top of low shrubs, rocks, fences or termite mounds. Flies low from perch to perch and usually flicks its wings just once upon landing.

May spend several minutes foraging on the ground, running or hopping around quickly on longish legs. Also hunts from a vantage point by dropping onto prey on the ground. The diet consists of a wide range of arthropods like spiders, solifuges, millipedes, centipedes, grasshoppers, termites, ants, flies, moths, butterflies, beetles, caterpillars and small fruits.

The Sickle-winged Chat is known to have a spring to summer breeding season. It is a monogamous, solitary nester and is probably territorial. The nest is a cup made of soft, dry grass, fluffy seeds and other soft plant material. It is commonly placed in a depression in the soil at the base of a grass tuft, shrub or stone.

Lays 2 to 4 pale to deep greenish blue eggs, with indistinct pale reddish streaks or speckles. Very few details are known regarding incubation and fledging in this species. The young are known to be fed by both parents.

Further Resources

Species text adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Dawie de Swardt, Janet du Plooy, Jon Blanco, Lance Robinson, Rick Nuttall, Sybrand Venter and Vaughan Jessnitz is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Vlaktespekvreter (Afrikaans); Traquet aile-en-faux (French); Oranjeschmätzer (German); Vlakte-spekvreter (Dutch); Chasco-asa-de-foice (Portuguese)

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2023. Sickle-winged Chat Emarginata sinuata. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at http://thebdi.org/2023/06/05/sickle-winged-chat-emarginata-sinuata/

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding

Cover image of Karoo Chat by Desire Darling – Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape – BirdPix No. 38935

Identification

The Karoo Chat is larger and longer-tailed than other similar chats and the sexes are alike. It has a noticeably horizontal posture, unlike the typically upright posture of other chats.

The key identification feature is the black tail with white outer-tail feathers and a grey rump. This combination along with the greyish body is diagnostic.

The overall colouration is dark and light grey. The ear coverts are rufous-grey but this is not always conspicuous in the field. The bill, legs and feet are dark-grey-black. Birds from Namibia are smaller and much paler with sandy-buff upperparts, off-white underparts and pale whitish rumps.

Juveniles are spotted with buff on the upperparts and the underparts are mottled blackish with buff spotting.

The Karoo Chat is similar to some other chats. It is most easily mistaken for the grey form of the Mountain Chat Oenanthe monticola but that species is darker grey and has a white (not grey) rump.

The Tractrac Chat (Emarginata tractrac) is normally much paler and has a whitish rump and extensive white on the sides of the tail. Note that Namibian forms of the Karoo Chat are paler than their southern counterparts and have off-white not grey rumps. They can be separated from the Tractrac Chat by their longer, more extensively black tails and horizontal posture.

The Sickle-winged Chat (Emarginata sinuata) has buffier plumage and a pale rufous rump and outer tail.

Status and Distribution

A common resident, the Karoo Chat is near-endemic to southern Africa and is well named because it is virtually restricted to the Karoo biomes and the similarly semi-arid escarpment of Namibia and south-western Angola. Its population density is highest in the Succulent Karoo and western Nama Karoo where it is one of the commonest species in its habitat.

Its distribution is not believed to have changed historically and this common species is not under any threat.

Habitat

The Karoo Chat inhabits Karroid, semi-arid scrub in both the winter and summer rainfall regions and has a preference for stony ground. It is found both on the flats and on broken ground or stony hillsides, but avoids mountainous habitat. It is rare in towns, villages and gardens.

Behaviour

The Karoo Chat is sedentary but is known to undertake some local movements in response to rain.

It is usually seen singly or in pairs, and occasionally in family groups. It can be tame and fairly confiding and perches prominently on shrubs, small trees or fence posts. Sometimes flicks wings, but not as regularly as Familiar or Sickle-winged Chats. It is generally conspicuous and aggressively chases off conspecifics and other species that may compete with it for food. When disturbed, flies low, in undulating flight, from perch to perch and flutters wings upon landing until balanced

It forages on the ground around grass tufts and at the base of shrubs. Also hunts from a perch, diving to the ground to snap up prey. Feeds mainly on invertebrates including spiders, solifuges, millipedes, centipedes, grasshoppers, crickets, bugs, beetles, ants, termites, flies, snails and caterpillars. Also consumes some seeds and small fruits.

The Karoo Chat breeds during spring and summer, often opportunistically after rain in arid areas. It is a territorial, solitary nester. The nest is a deep cup, the outside of which is built with soft plant material and the interior is generously lined with fluffy seeds and other soft plant material. The nest is seemingly built only by the female and is placed on the ground under a shrub. Two to four eggs are laid per clutch; however, further details regarding incubation are unrecorded. The young are fed and provided for by both sexes.

Further Resources

Species text adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Desire Darling, Gerald Wingate, Les Underhill, Pamela Kleiman, Tino Herselman, Trevor Hardaker and Zenobia van Dyk is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Karoospekvreter (Afrikaans); Traquet du Karoo (French); Bleichschmätzer, Wüstenschmätzer (German); Karoo-spekvreter (Dutch); Chasco do Karoo (Portuguese)

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2023. Karoo Chat Emarginata schlegelii. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at http://thebdi.org/2023/06/03/karoo-chat-emarginata-schlegelii/

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding

Cover image of Ant-eating Chat by Desire Darling – Addo Elephant National Park, Eastern Cape – BirdPix No. 7088

Identification

The Ant-eating Chat is distinctive and easily recognisable. It has overall dark, dusky brown plumage with striking and distinctive white primaries when seen in flight. The body shape is somewhat dumpy and has an upright stance on fairly long legs.

The sexes differ subtly as the male is slightly darker than the female. Males also have a white carpal patch on each shoulder, but these are frequently concealed when perched. Females lack the white shoulder patches.

Juveniles have a rufous wash to the dark brown plumage and show less white in the wings.

It is most easily mistaken for the female Mountain Chat Oenanthe monticola which is a little larger, with a longer, white-edged tail and a white rump.

Status and Distribution

The Ant-eating Chat is a Southern African endemic. It is common and widespread in the central parts of the region. It is primarily an inland species and is mostly absent from coastal areas, except along the west coast of South Africa. The Ant-eating Chat is also absent from the most arid parts of Namibia and is currently not known to occur in Zimbabwe or Mozambique.

It is possible that the range of the Ant-eating Chat has increased in some parts of its range due to bush clearing for agriculture such as in the Western Cape near Cape Town, the western parts of Limpopo and the adjoining eastern region of Botswana. Conversely, the Ant-eating Chat appears to have suffered local extinctions in much of Lesotho and the former Transkei region of the Eastern Cape. This is due to intense human predation of small burrowing mammals, upon which the Ant-eating Chat relies for nest sites, as well as high livestock densities which appear to eliminate many ground-nesting birds.

Habitat

The Ant-eating Chat occurs in open grassy habitats, usually with at least some scrub and bushes for perching on. It favours semi-arid Karoo shrublands, open grasslands, rolling grassy hills and open, arid Kalahari savanna on sands.

Behaviour

The Ant-eating Chat is conspicuous and distinctive in its behaviour. It occurs singly, in pairs, or in small family groups of up to 6 or more birds. They are not territorial but occupy well-defined home ranges. Flies with rapidly beating wings, hovering, swerving and dropping to perch or to ground; often raises tail after landing. Roosts and nests in cavities in the ground.

Forages by hopping or running about on the ground, or by dropping onto prey from a perch. Primarily consumes ants and termites but also takes a range of other insects and arachnids, including grasshoppers, beetles and solifugids. They are also known to eat millipedes and berries in season.

The Ant-eating Chat has a prolonged spring and summer breeding season with a peak from October to December. In display the male flies with stiff wings, while tilting sideways to show the conspicuous white shoulders. Males sometimes also fly rapidly for 40-50 m before hovering for several seconds. All displays are accompanied by singing.

Nests are solitary and are widely spaced. Multiple broods per season are attempted and cooperative breeding frequently takes place whereby a pair and one or two juveniles from the previous brood act as helpers at the nest.

The Ant-eating Chat mostly uses the holes of burrowing mammal species such as the Aardvark (Orycteropus afer), Porcupine (Hystrix africaeustralis), Springhare (Pedetes capensis), Ground Squirrel (Xerus inauris) and Yellow Mongoose (Cynictis pinicillata), inside of which they will excavate their own nest tunnel. Excavation of the tunnel and all nest building duties are shared by both sexes. The soil is loosened with the bill and shovelled out with the feet. The tunnel takes the birds around eight to ten days to complete and may be up to 1.5m deep. They will also utilise gullies, stream banks, road cuttings or sand quarries as nesting sites.

The nest is a bowl of dry grass and roots, placed in a chamber at end of the tunnel. From 2 to 7 plain whitish eggs are laid per clutch and incubation usually starts once all the eggs have been laid. The incubation period lasts for 14 or 15 days and all incubation is performed by the female. Hatchlings are fed by both adults and sometimes by up to 2 helpers from earlier broods. Fledged juveniles use the nest burrow for shelter, roosting, and as a bolt hole when alarmed. Brood parasitism by the Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) has been recorded.

Further Resources

Species text adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Dawie de Swardt, Desire Darling, Jaco Botes, Johan and Estelle van Rooyen, Pamela Kleiman, Tino Herselman and Zenobia van Dyk is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Swartpiek (Afrikaans); Leping (Tswana); Isanzwili (Xhosa); Traquet fourmilier (French); Termitenschmätzer, Ameisenschmätzer (German); Kaapse Miertapuit (Dutch); Chasco-formigueiro-meridional (Portuguese)

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2023. Ant-Eating Chat Myrmecocichla formicivora. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at http://thebdi.org/2023/05/29/ant-eating-chat-myrmecocichla-formicivora/

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding