The familiar chat (''Oenanthe familiaris'') is a small
passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...
bird of the
Old World flycatcher
The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Northe ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Muscicapidae
The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Northe ...
. It is a common resident breeder in Africa south of the
Sahara in rocky and mountainous habitat and around human habitation.
Taxonomy
The familiar chat was illustrated and described by the French naturalist
François Levaillant
François Levaillant (born Vaillant, later in life as Le Vaillant, ''"The Valiant"'') (6 August 1753 – 22 November 1824) was a French author, explorer, naturalist, zoological collector, and noted ornithologist. He described many new species of ...
in Volume 4 of his ''Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d'Afrique'' published in 1805. He named the bird, "Le Traquet Familier" but did not give the species a
binomial name. The binomial name ''Motacilla familiaris'' was introduced by the English publisher
John Wilkes
John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he f ...
in 1817. The species was subsequently placed in the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Cercomela'' introduced by
Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1856.
Molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2010 and 2012 found that the genus ''Cercomela'' was
polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...
with five species, including the familiar chat, phylogenetically nested within the genus ''
Oenanthe''.
As part of a reorganization of the species to create
monophyletic genera, the familiar chat was moved to the genus ''Oenanthe''.
There are 7 recognised
subspecies:
[
* ''O. f. falkensteini'' (]Cabanis Cabanis is the surname of:
*George Cabanis (1815-1892), American politician
*Jean Cabanis (1816–1906), German ornithologist
*José Cabanis
José Cabanis (2 March 1922 – 6 October 2000) was a French novelist, essayist, historian and magistrate ...
, 1875) – Senegal to northwest Ethiopia, south Uganda and Tanzania
* ''O. f. omoensis'' ( Neumann, 1904) – southeast Sudan, southwest Ethiopia, northwest Kenya and northeast Uganda
* ''O. f. angolensis'' ( Lynes, 1926) – west Angola and north Namibia
* ''O. f. galtoni'' ( Strickland, 1853) – east Namibia, west Botswana and northern South Africa
* ''O. f. hellmayri'' ( Reichenow, 1902) – southeast Botswana to south Mozambique and northeast South Africa
* ''O. f. actuosa'' ( Clancey, 1966) – east South Africa and Lesotho
* ''O. f. familiaris'' ( Wilkes, 1817) – southern South Africa
Description
The familiar chat is a dumpy short-tailed bird 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
Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...
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.
Behaviour
Breeding
The familiar chat is monogamous. It breeds between December and March in most of west Africa, but between March and May in Nigeria and mainly between October and November in South Africa. It builds a thick cup-shaped nest of plant material lined with hair, wool and feathers. The nest is usually placed in a hole in the ground, but rock faces and buildings are also used. This species will use nest boxes or a disused sociable weaver
The sociable weaver (''Philetairus socius'') is a species of bird in the weaver family that is endemic to southern Africa. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Philetairus''. It is found in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. but th ...
nest. The clutch is 2-4 greenish-blue eggs decorated with reddish-brown speckling. The eggs hatch after 13–15 days. The nestlings are fed by both parents and fledge after 13–15 days. Usually only a single brood is raised each year.
The familiar chat is typically seen sitting on a rock, or hopping on bare patches of soil. It has a habit of flicking its wings once or twice every time it moves. It is seen in small family groups of up to five birds, and is invariably tame and approachable. It eats insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s, fruit, animal fat and household or farmyard scraps.
The Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
name for this species "spekvreter" means "fat-eater", and comes from the fact that it developed the habit of feeding on the lard used to grease wagon axles by the voortrekkers.
Gallery
File:Familiar chat, Cercomela familiaris at Pilanesberg National Park, Northwest Province, South Africa (16036046470).jpg, ''O. f. hellmayri'' in Pilanesberg National Park
The Pilanesberg National Park is located north of Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa. The park borders on the Sun City entertainment complex. It is currently administered by the North West Parks and Tourism Board.
The are ...
, South Africa
File:Familiar Chat 2011 09 28 7809.jpg, ''O. f. galtoni'' with termite prey
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the Familiar Chat
{{Taxonbar, from=Q12265001
familiar chat
familiar chat
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
familiar chat