Brown Rock Chat
Oenanthe fusca
A plain brown chat, forever on the walls and rooftops.
Seen atHaldwani
Opens recordings on xeno-canto, the open bird-sound archive.
What the hills call it
Pathchata
/ path·cha·taa /पथचटा
Brown Rock Chat — A plain brown chat, forever on the walls and rooftops.
Field notes
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae · Old World flycatchers
- Genus
- Oenanthe
- Length
- 17 cm
- Weight
- 18–25 g
- At Kunja
- Resident — here all year round
- Conservation
- Least Concern
How to know it
A plain warm-brown chat with a slightly rufous belly, an upright stance and a habit of flicking its wings and tail. Almost always on walls and buildings.
What it eats
Insects, taken from the ground and from walls with short dashes.
Where & when to spot it
On stone walls, rooftops, ruins and rocky ground, perching prominently and bobbing as it watches for prey.
Nesting & mating
A cup of grass and roots in a wall-hole, ledge or crevice of a building; three to four eggs.
In the lens
Brown Rock Chat, photographed at Haldwani
Photographs by Manohar Negi · mnegi.com — tap any photo to view it full
More to spot
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Passer domesticus
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MuscicapidaeBlue Whistling Thrush
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SturnidaeCommon Myna
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HirundinidaeRed-rumped Swallow
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PycnonotidaeHimalayan Bulbul
Pycnonotus leucogenys
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MegalaimidaeGreat Barbet
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