Tractrac chat

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Tractrac chat
Emarginata tractrac.jpg
In the Namib Naukluft, Namibia
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Emarginata
Species:
E. tractrac
Binomial name
Emarginata tractrac
(Wilkes, 1817)
Synonyms

Cercomela tractrac

The tractrac chat (Emarginata tractrac) is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is a common resident breeder in southernmost Angola, western Namibia and western South Africa.

Contents

Its habitat is Karoo and desert scrub, hummock dunes and gravel plains.

Taxonomy

The tractrac chat was illustrated and described by the French naturalist François Levaillant in Volume 4 of his Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d'Afrique published in 1805. He named the bird, "Le tractrac", an onomatopoeia based on its call. [2] The first formal description of the tractrac chat was by the English publisher John Wilkes in 1817 under the binomial name Motacilla tractrac. [3] [4] The species was subsequently placed in the genus Cercomela introduced by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1856. [5] It was moved to its current genus, Emarginata , after molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2010 and 2012 found that Cercomela was polyphyletic. [6] [7] [8]

There are 5 subspecies: [8]

Description

The tractrac chat is 14–15 cm long with a weight of 20 g. Its tail is white with a dark inverted “T” at the tip, reminiscent of the pattern shown by several wheatears. The short straight bill and the legs and feet are black. It has a dark eye. The Namib form found on hummock dunes and at the coast has almost white plumage with grey wings and grey tail marking. The south-eastern form, found in gravel plains has brown upperparts with blackish flight feathers and tail markings. Its underparts are white. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile is more mottled than the adult.

This species is smaller than the Karoo chat which also has the white of the outer tail feathers extending to the tip. It is paler and greyer than Familiar and sickle-winged chats, both of which have a darker rump.

The tractrac chat has a soft fast "tactac" song and a loud chattering territorial defence call.

Behaviour

The tractrac chat builds a cup-shaped nest of straw and leaves on the ground, usually under a bush or shrub. It lays two to three red eggs. This species is monogamous, mating for life.

It is usually seen singly or in pairs. It forages from the ground for insects including butterflies, bees, wasps, locusts and ants. Prey is typically taking in a short flight.

Conservation status

This common species has a large range, with an estimated extent of 1,000,000 km². The population size is believed to be large, and the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheatear</span> Genus of birds

The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. This is an Old World group, but the northern wheatear has established a foothold in eastern Canada and Greenland and in western Canada and Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old World flycatcher</span> Family of birds

The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World, with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat and Northern Wheatear, found also in North America. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing. The family includes 344 species and is divided into 51 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue rock thrush</span> Species of bird

The blue rock thrush is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta and was shown on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackstart</span> Species of bird

The blackstart is a chat found in desert regions in North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. It is resident throughout its range.

<i>Luscinia</i> Genus of birds

Luscinia is a genus of smallish passerine birds, containing the nightingales and relatives. Formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, they are now considered to be Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) of the chat subfamily (Saxicolinae). The chats are a lineage of Old World flycatchers that has evolved convergently to thrushes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain wheatear</span> Species of bird

The mountain wheatear or mountain chat is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to southwestern Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown rock chat</span> Species of bird (Oenanthe fusca)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairy flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The fairy flycatcher or fairy warbler is a small passerine bird. Formerly placed in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae, it is now separated with some other "odd flycatchers" as the new family Stenostiridae. It is the only member of the genus Stenostira.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Familiar chat</span> Species of bird

The familiar chat is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is a common resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara in rocky and mountainous habitat and around human habitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karoo chat</span> Species of bird

The Karoo chat is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is a common resident breeder in southwesternmost Angola, western Namibia and western South Africa. Its habitat is Karoo and desert scrub in the south, extending to the escarpment zone in the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sickle-winged chat</span> Species of bird

The sickle-winged chat or sicklewing chat is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae endemic to southern Africa. It is a common resident breeder in South Africa and Lesotho, and is also found in southernmost areas of Botswana and Namibia. Its habitat is Karoo scrub, short grassland, and barren sandy or stony areas. In western coastal areas, it also occurs on agricultural land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moorland chat</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">African grey flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The African grey flycatcher, grayish flycatcher, or large flycatcher is a passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that occurs in parts of East Africa.

The sombre rock chat is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Ethiopia and Somalia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.

The brown-tailed rock chat 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 firethroat also known as David's rubythroat or Père David's orangethroat is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae, found in western and central parts of China. It breeds in Sichuan, China, and winters primarily in the Indian subcontinent. Its wintering range spans across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Tibet and Myanmar. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Phoenicurus</i> Genus of birds

Phoenicurus is a genus of passerine birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. They are named redstarts from their orange-red tails. They are small insectivores, the males mostly brightly coloured in various combinations of red, blue, white, and black, the females light brown with a red tail. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 led to a reorganization of the Old World flycatchers family in which the two species in Rhyacornis and the single species in Chaimarrornis were merged into Phoenicurus.

<i>Chamaetylas</i> Genus of birds

Chamaetylas is a genus of small, mainly insectivorous birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that are native to sub-Saharan Africa.

<i>Emarginata</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Emarginata is a genus of birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that occur in southern Africa.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2016). "Emarginata tractrac". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22710363A94243476. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710363A94243476.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. Levaillant, François (1805). Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d'Afrique (in French). Vol. 4. Paris: Delachauchée. p. 103, Plate 184.
  3. Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 100.
  4. Wilkes, John (1817). Encyclopaedia Londinensis. Vol. 16. London: Self published. p. 89. The title page is dated 1819.
  5. Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 96.
  6. Outlaw, R.K.; Voelker, G.; Bowie, R.C.K. (2010). "Shall we chat? Evolutionary relationships in the genus Cercomela (Muscicapidae) and its relation to Oenanthe reveals extensive polyphyly among chats distributed in Africa, India and the Palearctic". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 55 (1): 284–292. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.09.023. PMID   19772925.
  7. Aliabadian, M.; Kaboli, M.; Förschler, M.I.; Nijman, V.; Chamani, A.; Tillier, A.; Prodon, R.; Pasquet, E.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Zuccon, D. (2012). "Convergent evolution of morphological and ecological traits in the open-habitat chat complex (Aves, Muscicapidae: Saxicolinae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 65 (1): 35–45. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.05.011. PMID   22634240.
  8. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". World Bird List Version 7.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 3 May 2017.