The Sooty Chat (Myrmecocichla nigra) is a small African songbird.

The Sooty Chat is a glossy black bird with a white patch on its shoulder. It has a short tail, black beak, and black legs. The female Sooty Chat is dark-brown to black.

Sooty Chat (male)

It grows to about 15 centimetres (6 inches) tall.

It prefers dry grasslands in west Africa, east Africa, and south Africa, particularly the Mara region of Kenya.

Sooty Chat (female)

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM