The white-winged cliff chat (''Monticola semirufus'') is a species of

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 t ...

bird in the Old World flycatcher family

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 Norther ...

. It is found in rocky wooded gorges, among boulders and in road cuttings within the

Ethiopian Highlands The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to . ...

. This species was formerly placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Thamnolaea ''Thamnolaea'' is a small genus of passerine birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, consisting of two closely related species. They are native to sub-Saharan Africa, where they occur in monogamous, territorial pairs along lightly ...

'' but was moved to '' Monticola'' based on the results of a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2010. Length 19–21 cm. The

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

has a striking chestnut belly which the

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

lacks. Juvenile is spotted buff above and below. Both sexes show striking white secondaries in flight. The white patches in the primaries are diagnostic of this species.

References

* Sinclair, Ian & Ryan, Peter (2003) ''Birds of Africa south of the Sahara'', Struik, Cape Town. white-winged cliff chat Birds of the Horn of Africa Fauna of the Ethiopian Highlands white-winged cliff chat Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Muscicapidae-stub