Oenanthe scotocerca
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The brown-tailed rock chat (Oenanthe scotocerca) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
The brown-tailed rock chat was formerly included in the genus Cercomela. Molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2010 and 2012 found that the genus Cercomela was polyphyletic with five species, including the brown-tailed rock chat, phylogenetically nested within the genus Oenanthe. As part of a reorganization of the species to create monotypic genera, the brown-tailed rock chat was moved to the genus Oenanthe.
It is insectivorous. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-tailed Chat sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 287th most-seen of the 341 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-tailed Chat in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Only Samburu National Reserve, in our data
Samburu National Reserve is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Brown-tailed Chat sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Oenanthe
The closest relatives of the Brown-tailed Chat that you can see in Samburu National Reserve (genus Oenanthe, Wheatears and Allies) are Pied Wheatear (about 20%), Isabelline Wheatear (about 20%) and Northern Wheatear (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-tailed Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Samburu National Reserve (14 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.
