| Mocking cliff chat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male in South Africa | |
 | |
| Female in South Africa | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Thamnolaea |
| Species: | T. cinnamomeiventris |
| Binomial name | |
| Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris (Lafresnaye, 1836)[2] | |
| Synonyms | |
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Themocking cliff chat,mocking chat orcliff chat, (Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris) is a species ofchat in the familyMuscicapidae which occurs in rocky habitats in much of easternSub-Saharan Africa. It is the only species placed in thegenusThamnolaea.
The mocking cliff chat wasformally described and illustrated in 1836 by the French ornithologistFrédéric de Lafresnaye based on a specimen that had been sent to France from theCape of Good Hope in South Africa. Lafresnaye placed the species with the thrushes in thegenusTurdus and coined thebinomial nameTurdus cinnamomeiventris.[3] The specific epithet combinesModern Latincinnamomeus meaning "cinnamon-coloured" withLatinventer,ventris meaning "belly".[4] Thetype locality has been designated asCape Province.[5] The mocking cliff chat is now the only species placed in the genusThamnolaea that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologistJean Cabanis.[6][7] The genus name combines theAncient Greek θαμνος/thamnos meaning "bush" with λαιος/laios meaning "thrush".[8]
Ninesubspecies are recognised:[7]
SubspeciesT. c. coronata together withT. c. kordofanensis have sometimes been considered as a separate species, the white-crowned cliff chat.[7]
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.[9] The mocking cliff chat has a length of 19–21 cm and weigh 41–51g.[10]
A loud fluty melodious warbling song which often contains many rapid-fire phrases mimicking other species, with some harsher phrases interspersed.[9][11]
The mocking cliff chat occurs in a neat band from centralEthiopia in the north through east Africa intoZimbabwe, south-easternBotswana, southernMozambique and easternSouth Africa as far as the far east ofWestern Cape province. Mostly resident but in the south of its range tends to move to lower altitudes in the winter months.[12] It inhabits rocky and boulder strewn areas, well-wooded rocky ravines, cliffs, gullies, boulder-strewn hillsides and watercourses in valley bottoms with scattered rocks.[12]
The mocking cliff chat is mainly insectivorous but also eats fruit and feeds on the nectar ofaloes, such as the Krantz aloe,Aloe arborescens. Its chief foraging technique is to pounce on food on the ground from a perch but it will also glean food from branches and foliage.[12] They habitually wag their tails, slowly raising it over their backs and fanning it out.[11]
Both sexes build the nest, taking about a week to construct an open cup built over a foundation of twigs, leaves, roots and feathers and lined with the hair of mammals. They often use the nests ofstriped swallows frequently evicting the swallows while they are still using the nest. The nest is usually positioned below a rock overhang, bridge, culvert or in a cave and it may sometimes be placed in a hole in a wall or in a cavity in agricultural machinery.In southern Africa the eggs are laid from August–December, with a peak during September–November. The normal clutch size is 2-4 eggs, which the female incubates for about 14–16 days. Both parents feed the chicks which fledge at about three weeks old.[12]
