Myrmecocichla nigra
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% 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 40% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Chat sighting in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, based on 1,280 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 20th most-seen of the 398 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Chat in Masai Mara National Reserve on a given day, against about 30% in December, the lowest month.
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.
3rd of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Sooty Chat sightings, Masai Mara National Reserve ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, about 60%) and Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sooty Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Masai Mara National Reserve (1,280 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.
