Moorland Chat

Moorland Chat
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Cercomela
Species:	C. sordida
Binomial name
Cercomela sordida (Ruppell, 1837)

The Moorland Chat (Cercomela sordida), also known as the Alpine Chat or Hill Chat, is a species of songbird in the Old World Flycatcher family. It is endemic to north-east Africa where it is common in its habitat. It lives at high altitudes on moors and grassland, usually above 3,400 m (11,100 ft), but can live as low as 2,100 m (6,900 ft)^[1]. It has a short tail and long legs. It is bold and will approach people.

The chat was first discovered on Mount Elgon on the Uganda-Kenya border by Jackson. Mackinder brought back the same bird from Mount Kenya in 1899^[2]. He presented a paper on the first ascent to the Royal Geographical Society in 1900. The scientific results of his expedition were discussed in detail afterwards.

A very curious little bird was found by Mr Jackson on Mount Elgon at a height of 11,000 feet, and I remember saying to Mr. Mackinder that he was bound to find the same sort of little chat on Mount Kenya, at a height of 11,000 feet. This he did, and it was the same species as the Mount Elgon bird, an ordinary-looking little brown chat, with a good deal of white in the tail.

—Dr Bowdler Sharpe, A Journey to the Summit of Mount Kenya, British East Africa: Discussion^[2]

References

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