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ShrublandCavity nestSmall · 19 g
ID tip
The familiar chat is a dumpy short-tailed bird 14–15 cm (5.5–5.9 in) long. The adult's upperparts are a dull brown with warmer brown ear coverts behind the eye. The underparts vary from off-white to pale grey-brown, and the rump and outer tail feathers are rufous with a dark brown tip. The central tail feathers are dark brown. The short straight bill and the legs and feet are black. The sexes are alike, but the juvenile is similar to the adult but has buff spots above and a scaly pattern on the breast. The familiar chat has a soft "shek-shek" alarm call. The song is a warbling trill.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Familiar Chat
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is September, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Familiar Chat
The map shades 25 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
About the Familiar Chat
The familiar chat is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is a common resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara in rocky and mountainous habitat and around human habitation.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Isabelline WheatearOenanthe isabellinaMale and female isabelline wheatear are similar in appearance.
Western Black-eared WheatearOenanthe hispanicaThe breeding male has the forehead and crown white or nearly white, the mantle buff, and the wings blacker than those of the northern wheatear.
Brown Rock ChatOenanthe fuscaThe brown rock chat is about 17 cm long, larger than the somewhat similar-looking Indian robin.
Side by side: Familiar Chat vs Northern Wheatear · Familiar Chat vs Isabelline Wheatear · Familiar Chat vs Western Black-eared Wheatear · Brown Rock Chat vs Familiar Chat
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