Myrmecocichla nigra
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The sooty chat (Myrmecocichla nigra) is an African songbird of the chat subfamily. It is 15 to 16 cm (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 (as in the photograph at upper right) 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. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Odzala-Kokoua National Park | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 7 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 9 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 10 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 11 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 12 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 13 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 14 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 15 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Chat sighting in Akagera National Park on a given day, based on 449 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 17th most-seen of the 320 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–July, September and December
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Chat in Akagera National Park on a given day, against about 40% in August and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sooty Chat sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Sooty Chat sightings, Akagera National Park ranks 2nd at about 50%. The best odds are in Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Sooty Chat that you can see in Akagera National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are White-browed Robin-Chat (about 40%), White-headed Black-Chat (about 30%) and Pale Flycatcher (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sooty Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Akagera National Park (449 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
