Sickle-winged Chat

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Sickle-winged Chat at stays in or beside uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, Kwandwe Private Game Reserve, Giants Castle Game Reserve, Kamberg Nature Reserve and Royal Natal National Park. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Sickle-winged Chat is most recorded in Western Cape (40% of records), Eastern Cape (25% of records), Northern Cape (23% of records), based on 236 iNaturalist observations. 19 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Sickle-winged Chat on site or nearby.

The Sickle-winged Chat is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park: year-round, dry season May-Sep; Kwandwe Private Game Reserve: year-round, best Mar-May, Sep-Nov; Giants Castle Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep; Kamberg Nature Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The sickle-winged chat or sicklewing chat (Emarginata sinuata) is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae endemic to southern Africa. It is a common resident breeder in South Africa and Lesotho, and is also found in southernmost areas of Botswana and Namibia. Its habitat is Karoo scrub, short grassland, and barren sandy or stony areas.