Chat Flycatcher - BirdForum Opus

Agricola infuscatus

Subspecies placidus
Photo by Oregonian
Nxai Pan, Botswana, November 2008

Identification

A large, chat-like buffy-brown flycatcher with lighter flight feather edges that form a pale wing panel. The plain brown tail and rump differentiates this species from all chats. The similar Pale Flycatcher is smaller and lacks the pale wing panel.

Distribution

South Africa, Angola, Botswana, and Namibia.

Taxonomy

Agricola infuscatus has five subspecies:^[1]

• A. i. benguellensis

• Arid coastal south-western Angola (Benguela) to north-western Namibia (Kaokoveld)

• A. i. namaquensis

• Namibia

• A. i. placidus

• Botswana to north-western and nort-central South Africa

• A. i. seimundi

• South Africa (Northern Cape to south-western Free State)

• A. i. infuscatus

• South-western Namibia to Western Cape (South Africa)

It's sometimes placed in the genus Melaenornis or in the genus Bradornis.

Habitat

Dry savanna.

Behaviour

They like sit on shrubs, fences, and telephone wires in arid shrublands and savanna. When they drop to the ground, they look distinctly chat-like as they hunt insects and small vertebrates. They also flycatch, seizing prey in mid-air.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Chat Flycatcher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Chat_Flycatcher

External Links

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