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To the Beauty of Birds

The Sooty Chat (Myrmecocichla nigra) is an African songbird of the chat subfamily.

It is 6 to 6.25 inches long, stocky and relatively short-tailed for a chat. The adult male's plumage is glossy black except for white patches on the upper wings that are usually visible or only partly concealed when the bird is at rest. The female and young are very dark brown.

The song (in Kenya and northern Tanzania) is described as "prolonged, sweet and musical, sometimes given in flight, wee tewee tuweer, skwik-skueeeeer, cueee-eeeee-cuweeeeer, eee-euwee-tee, tseuwee-tew-skweeer-tsi-seet…." This species sometimes imitates other birds.

It occurs widely but discontinuously in African grasslands, from Senegal east to Kenya and south to Angola and Zambia. Its range is estimated at 3,400,000 km², and it is considered "frequent" in at least parts of that area.

Sooty Chat

Chat Sooty male 8004

Chat Sooty 8002

Chat Sooty 8576

Chat Sooty 9201

Chat Sooty female 8012

Chat Sooty female 8016

Chat Sooty female 9207

Chat Sooty male & female 9208