Sooty Chat

It is 15 to 16 cm long, stocky and relatively short-tailed for a chat. The adult male's plumage is glossy black except for white patches on the upper wings that are usually visible or only partly concealed when the bird is at rest. The female and young are very dark brown .

The Sooty Chat is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The Sooty Chat (Myrmecocichla nigra) is an African songbird of the chat subfamily. It is 15 to 16 cm (6 to 6.25 inches) long, stocky and relatively short-tailed for a chat. The adult male's plumage is glossy black except for white patches on the upper wings that are usually visible or only partly concealed (as in the photograph at upper right) when the bird is at rest. The female and young are very dark brown (Zimmerman, Turner, and Pearson 1999). More

for OPUS > Sooty Chat -for Opus/DB Go to Page... More

For the purposes of our bird news services, Sooty Chat is classed as ungraded: species which are unlikely to appear as wild birds in Britain or Ireland (Note that rarity levels are currently applied nationally and may not reflect local variations in abundance. More

The Sooty Chat differs in appearance in having white marks on the shoulders, unfortunately these aren't always visible. The easiest way to tell them apart is in flight, when the white patches on the underside of the Anteater Chat's wings are clearly visible. In most lights it looks blacker than the one pictured above and if you're in a hurry and don't check properly it can also be confused with the Slaty-coloured Boubou, Common Drongo, Northern and Southern Black Flycatchers. More

The Sooty Chat bears a close resemblance to the Northern Anteater Chat but its range has very little overlap. When perched it can usually but not always, be distinguished by the white patch on the wing, in flight it lacks the large white patch of the Anteater chat. It's usually found in open grassland often perched on termite mounds. More

Sooty ChatSooty Chat (Myrmecocichla nigra) Kenya, Masai Mara - August 2005Photo no. More

Sooty chat, Kenya, Masai Mara May, 2008 © Benjamin Schwartz - Tropical Birding Send this as a postcard Sooty chat - Showing Records 1 through 2 of 2 Total Records More

displaying Sooty Chat and a covey of Harlequin Quail. Continuing on, we soon encountered our second large cat species for the morning: a male and female lion. Not at all wary of our presence, the true king of the African savannah got up to stretch and show off within mere meters of the vehicle! With our excitement levels high we drove off in search of more amazing experiences. The afternoon found us in the midst of hundreds of zebra. More