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Mountain Wheatear (Myrmecocichla monticola)

About Mountain Wheatear (Myrmecocichla monticola)

  • Kingdom: Animals
  • Phylum: Chordates
  • Class: Birds
  • Order: Perching Birds
  • Family: Thrushes and Allies

The mountain wheatear or mountain chat (Oenanthe monticola) is a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae.

This non-migratory wheatear is resident in mountainous and rocky habitats in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and southernmost Angola.

Mountain wheatear is 18–20 cm long, and like other wheatears, it has a distinctive tail pattern, with a white rump and outer tail feathers. Its legs and pointed bill are black.

The male is very variable in plumage, although the tail pattern and a white shoulder patch are always present. A white and black bird. The body plumage varies from pale grey to almost black, and it may or may not have a white crown to the head. The female is entirely dark brown apart from the white rump and outer tail.

The Mountain wheatear's song is a clear melodic whistle interspersed with harsh chatters. It is monogamous and nests on the ground amongst rocks, laying 2-4 white eggs. It eats insects and berries.

References[edit]

  • Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN 1-86872-721-1

Lifelists

Visits

  • 2003-01-12
    Ganab, Namibia
    Not 100% sure about location