Brown rock chat

Brown rock chat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Cercomela
Species: C. fusca
Binomial name
Cercomela fusca
(Blyth, 1851)
Synonyms

Oenanthe fusca

The brown rock chat or Indian chat (Cercomela fusca) is a bird in the chat (Saxicolinae) subfamily and is found mainly in northern and central India. It is often found on old buildings and rocky areas. It resembles a female Indian robin but lacks the reddish vent and differs in posture and behaviour apart from being larger. In flight it bears some resemblance to thrushes and redstarts. It feeds on insects, captured mainly on the ground.

Description

at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.
at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.
Brown Rock-chat (Cercomela fusca) at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India.

The brown rock chat is larger than the somewhat similar looking Indian robin and is about 17 cm long. It is uniformly rufous brown with the wings and tail of a slightly darker shade. The brown on the undersides grades into a dark grey-brown vent.[2] In flight it resembles a female blue rock thrush and is usually found singly or in pairs on old buildings or rocky areas. The sexes are indistinguishable in the field. When feeding on the ground it sometimes flicks open its wings and tail. It also has a habit of slowly raising its tail slightly, fanning it and bobbing its head. They feed mainly on insects, picked off the ground.[3][4] They have been known to feed late and forage on insects attracted to artificial lighting.[5]

They have a wide repertoire of calls. Nearly eight different kinds of calls have been noted and these include territorial calls, begging call, feeding call, alarm call, threat call, contact call, distress call, roosting and emergence calls.[6] The usual call is a short whistling chee delivered with a rapid bob and stretch and the alarm call is a harsh chek-check. The song is thrush like with a number of notes, often including imitations of the songs of other bird species including the yellow-eyed babbler, black-winged cuckooshrike and Tickell's blue flycatcher.[3]

Taxonomy and systematics

The species was described by Edward Blyth in 1851 under the genus Saxicola based on a specimen from Mathura ("Muttra" in original) in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Volume 20:523). The beak is slender and is slightly curved at the tip. The second primary is the longest and the 12 feathered tail is rounded. It is considered to be monotypic although Walter Koelz suggested a new subspecies ruinarum in 1939 based on a specimen from Bhopal.[7][8] It was the only species of Cercomela found outside Africa and its placement was questioned in the past[9] and a 2010 study of molecular phylogeny suggested its placement in Oenanthe.[10]

In central India, the local name of Shama has been noted.[11]

Distribution

The species is nearly endemic to India, distributed north of the Narmada, west to Gujarat (mainly Kutch but extending south[12]) and east to Bengal bordered on the north by the Himalayas where it is found only until about 1300 m in the foothills. Its distribution extends into northern Pakistan where it is restricted east of the Chenab River. Although largely resident, some populations make movements in response to weather. In the foothills of the Himalayas it moves higher up in summer, appear in Dehra Dun in spring and leaving before the onset of winter. The species has been seen in Nepal. It is a common species although very patchily distributed.[3]

Breeding

The breeding season extends from spring to summer and more than one brood is raised. The nest is a cup of grass, hair and clods placed in a ledge in a roadside cutting, wall or window even making use of occupied houses. The foundation of the nest is made up of pebbles and clay.[13][14] The nests are guarded against intruders and the parents will chase palm squirrels and other birds that approach too close. The usual clutch is 3 to 4 pale blue eggs which are incubated by the female alone. The young leave the nest after about two weeks after hatching.[3]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Cercomela fusca". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Rasmussen PC & JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. p. 408.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ali, Salim; Sidney Dillon Ripley (1998). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 9 (2 ed.). New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 21–22.
  4. ↑ Donahue, J.P. (1962). "Field identification of the Brown Rock Chat". Newsletter for Birdwatchers 2 (10): 5–6.
  5. ↑ Singh, P. (2009). "Unusual nocturnal feeding by Brown Rock-chat Cercomela fusca (Passeriformes: Muscicapidae) in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India." (PDF). Journal of Threatened Taxa 1 (4): 251. doi:10.11609/JoTT.o1852.251.
  6. ↑ Sethi, V.K., Bhatt, D. (2008). "Call repertoire of an endemic avian species, the Indian chat Cercomela fusca" (PDF). Current Science 94 (9): 1173–1179.
  7. ↑ Koelz, W (1939). "New birds from Asia, chiefly from India". Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash 52: 61–82 [66].
  8. ↑ Deignan HG, RA Paynter Jr. & S D Ripley (1964). Check-list of birds of the world. Volume 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology.
  9. ↑ Oates, EW (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume 2. London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 79–80.
  10. ↑ Outlaw, RK; G Voelker and RCK Bowie (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.
  11. ↑ Baker, ECS (1924). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume 2 (2 ed.). London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 54–55.
  12. ↑ Khacher, Lavkumar (2000). "Brown Rock Chat Cercomela fusca: extension of range into Gujarat". Newsletter for Birdwatchers 40 (3): 41.
  13. ↑ White, L.S. (1919). "Nesting habits of the Brown Rockchat Cercomela fusca". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26 (2): 667–668.
  14. ↑ Mathews, W.H. (1919). "Nesting habits of the Brown Rockchat Cercomela fusca". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26 (3): 843–844.
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