Jan 25

Bird of the day

White-crowned cliff chat

Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris

The mocking cliff chat, mocking chat or cliff chat, (Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris) is a species of chat in the family Muscicapidae which occurs in rocky habitats in much of eastern Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Thamnolaea.

The mocking cliff chat is a large chat with distinctive colouration. The male has a glossy black with a chestnut belly, vent, and rump and white shoulder patches. The shoulder patches vary in size geographically. The female is dark grey with a chestnut lower breast, belly, and vent. The mocking cliff chat has a length of 19–21 cm and weigh 41–51g.

A loud fluty melodious warbling song which often contains many rapid-fire phrases mimicking other species, with some harsher phrases interspersed.

Aliases

Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris, Myrmecocichla cinnamomeiventris, Mocking cliffchat

Data retrieved on October 15, 2025 at 5:34 AM