Angola Cave Chat
Xenocopsychus ansorgei
The Angola Cave Chat (Xenocopsychus ansorgei) is a legendary chats, old world flycatchers, and alli found in 2 countries, weighing about 35 g. The Angola cave chat is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
About the Angola Cave Chat
The Angola cave chat is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is the sole member of the monotypic genus Xenocopsychus; although it was placed in Cossypha between 2010 and 2022 based on the results of a 2010 molecular phylogenetic study, this placement was found to be an error. It occurs locally from western Angola to marginally south of the Kunene River in northern Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky places in moist to dry savanna. It was previously described as being Near threatened, but has since been downgraded to Least concern.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The Angola cave chat is a small (18-19 cm) pied bird with a broad white supercilium, black upperparts and wings, and white uppertail coverts and underparts. The eye, bill, legs, and feet are all black in color. The sexes are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but has a yellowish wash to the breast and flanks. Voice: The call of the Angola cave chat is a series of three clear whistles (uii, tii, tii). The first call is higher-pitched, and the other two are lower pitched. This call is also sometimes reversed, with two lower pitched calls at the start, and one higher-pitched call at the end. The song is a fluting duululu, duulu, duululu with harsh chip notes in between.
Where it lives
When to see it
Best months: June, July, August, September, October, November, December, with peak activity in September. It is a variable species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify an Angola Cave Chat?
- The Angola cave chat is a small (18-19 cm) pied bird with a broad white supercilium, black upperparts and wings, and white uppertail coverts and underparts. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is an Angola Cave Chat?
- The Angola Cave Chat is a small sized bird weighing about 35 g.
- Where can you see an Angola Cave Chat?
- The Angola Cave Chat occurs in 2 countries, including Angola and Namibia.
- What birds look similar to an Angola Cave Chat?
- The Angola Cave Chat is most easily confused with the Przevalski's Redstart, the Mountain Robin-Chat and the Sumba Brown Flycatcher.
- Is the Angola Cave Chat endangered?
- The Angola Cave Chat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Angola Cave Chat for real
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