Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The mocking cliff chat, mocking chat or cliff chat, (Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris) is a species of chat in the family Muscicapidae which occurs in rocky habitats in much of eastern Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Thamnolaea.
The mocking cliff chat was formally described and illustrated in 1836 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye based on a specimen that had been sent to France from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Lafresnaye placed the species with the thrushes in the genus Turdus and coined the binomial name Turdus cinnamomeiventris. The specific epithet combines Modern Latin cinnamomeus meaning "cinnamon-coloured" with Latin venter, ventris meaning "belly". The type locality has been designated as Cape Province. The mocking cliff chat is now the only species placed in the genus Thamnolaea that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek θαμνος/thamnos meaning "bush" with λαιος/laios meaning "thrush".
Nine subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 5 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 11 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 12 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 13 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 14 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mocking Cliff Chat sighting in Serengeti National Park on a given day, based on 116 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 256th most-seen of the 469 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, April and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mocking Cliff Chat in Serengeti National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May–September and November–December, the lowest months. Those are among Serengeti National Park's wettest months, with about 90 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in July.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mocking Cliff Chat sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Mocking Cliff Chat sightings, Serengeti National Park ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (South Africa, about 30%), uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 30%) and Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, about 20%).
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Mocking Cliff Chat that you can see in Serengeti National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are Silverbird (about 50%), African Gray Flycatcher (about 30%) and Capped Wheatear (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mocking Cliff Chat is recorded against all the birds logged in Serengeti National Park (116 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.
