Myrmecocichla formicivora
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The ant-eating chat or southern anteater-chat (Myrmecocichla formicivora) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.
The species is sexually dimorphic with the male almost entirely black and the female brown with a grey bill and legs. Ant-eating chat - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Ant-eating chat Structured guide to the species in southern Africa Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 3 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 6 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Anteater-Chat sighting in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, based on 64 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 70th most-seen of the 122 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Anteater-Chat in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, against under 5% in January to March, the lowest months. That is one of Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 40 mm in January. May has too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Anteater-Chat sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Southern Anteater-Chat sightings, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa, about 30%), Etosha National Park (Namibia, about 20%) and Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 10%).
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Southern Anteater-Chat that you can see in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are Mariqua Flycatcher (about 60%), Kalahari Scrub Robin (about 50%) and Familiar Chat (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Anteater-Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (64 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.
