Chat

Chat — Chats are a group of small Old World insectivorous birds formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae. This name is normally applied to the robust ground feeding species found in Europe and Asia in the subfamily Saxicolini. They come from a large number of genera. Most northern species are strong migrants. Species are: Family: Muscicapidae Subfamily: Saxicolini Bluethroat, Luscinia svecica Siberian Rubythroat.

The North American yellow-breasted chat, Icteria virens, is classified in the family of wood warblers, Parulidae, but is relatively large (18 cm/7 in) and far from typical of this group. Its song is composed of a wide variety of whistles, rattles, clucks, and grunts. Other chats in the family Parulidae include the rose-breasted chat, Granatellus pelzelni, of northern South America and the red-breasted chat,Granatellus venustis, of Mexico. Both are strikingly marked birds with predominantly red hues, rather than the yellows found in most parulids. The ground chat, Geothlypis poliocephala, of Central America is one of the yellowthroats. In Australia, some members of the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae, are called chats. A number of thrushes, Turdidae, have chat in their names, probably as a result of the harsh notes in some of their calls. The palmchat, Dulus dominicus, is the sole member of the family Dulidae.