Chat Flycatcher
Agricola infuscatus
A large, chat-like buff-brown flycatcher. Lighter edges to the flight feathers form a pale wing panel. Individuals, pairs, and loosely associated groups sit on shrubs, fences, and telephone wires in arid shrublands and savanna. They drop to the ground, where they look distinctly chat-like, to hunt insects and small vertebrates. They also hawk for food. The plain brown tail and rump differentiates Chat Flycatcher from all chats. The similar Pale Flycatcher is smaller, lacks the paler wing panel, and prefers moist broadleaf woodland.
Identification
The chat flycatcher is an earthy light reddish-brown in colour and has large, pale wing edges. Juvenile flycatchers have speckled feathers. The flycatcher produces a song that consists of a "cher cher chirrup" sound. The bird is about twenty centimeters long.
Taxonomy
The chat flycatcher was previously placed in the genus Bradornis but was moved to Melaenornis based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010. It was subsequently moved to the genus Agricola based on a study published in 2023.
- Scientific name
- Agricola infuscatus
- Authority
- (Smith, A, 1839)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Unrecognized Bird Name
- Genus
- Agricola
Range and habitat
The chat flycatcher is found in South Africa, Botswana and Angola. The flycatcher frequently perches on low-lying bushes and telephone wires. Its natural habitat is dry savanna. However, it is also found in shrublands and woodlands throughout its range.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The chat flycatcher hunts insects. Specifically, it consumes termites, ants and beetles. The flycatcher also consumes small reptiles such as Typhlops, a genus of blind snakes.<p>The chat flycatcher lays eggs year round. However, egg laying is believed to peak from September to March, a period of increased rainfall in the habitat of the flycatcher. The flycatcher lays an average of two to three eggs. The chat flycatcher nests above ground in shrubs and thickets. The mother incubates the eggs for approximately two weeks, while the father is responsible for ensuring that the female is fed. After the eggs hatch, the hatchlings are raised and fed by their parents. They tend to leave the nest anywhere from eleven to fourteen days after hatching.
Conservation
The chat flycatcher is categorized as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The reasoning for this ranking includes the flycatcher's large range and relatively stable population trends.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Creamy-breasted Canastero
Asthenes dorbignyi
Local but often quite common in the Andes, favoring dry and rather open scrubby habitats, and also agricultural areas with hedges and taller trees. Large, bulky stick nests are often conspicuous in cacti and even in taller Eucalyptus trees. Often in pairs, foraging low to high in bushes and trees and running well on the ground with tail held cocked. Best identified by plain pale breast with variably contrasting rusty to buffy flanks and rump and a mostly dark tail. Plumage and voice vary regionally and multiple cryptic species likely involved.
Singing Quail
Dactylortyx thoracicus
Small, retiring quail of forest understory. Rarely seen, but can be located by listening for noisy rustling in the leaf litter as birds scratch like chickens. Prefers to run away rather than flush. Loud song often reveals its presence, given mainly early and late in the day: first few notes similar to Little Tinamou song, but then breaks into rollicking choruses that can be almost deafening if close by. Male has rusty face and gray body, female colors reversed, with gray face and rusty body.
Baliem Whistler
Pachycephala balim
A medium-sized bird of montane forest and secondary habitat in the Baliem Valley. Typical male “golden” whistler, with yellow belly, black head and breast band, and a white throat. Female has a brown head and breast band with a scaled throat. Co-occurs with the similar Sclater’s Whistler, but Baliem male has a broad yellow band around the back of the neck, and female has a scaled rather than plain white throat. A jumbled, whistled song containing some notes with an explosive quality.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.