Pied Bushchat

A sedentary “chat” associated with open habitats in tropical and subtropical Asia. Males are black with a white vent and a white wing patch. Females are dark brown with a reddish-brown rump and underparts. Females can resemble the migratory Siberian Stonechat, but can be separated by the absence of an eyebrow and of any white on the collar or wing. Rather conspicuous; it may use and sing from any open perch unlike more discerning stonechats. Calls include a rising “whee” and hard, decisive “chruk.”

The pied bush chat is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from the Greater Middle East through the Indian subcontinent eastwards to Indonesia. They colonized Papua New Guinea around 1950. It is found in open habitats including

This species is insectivorous, and like other chats hunts from a prominent low perch. They have been noted to feed on Pyralid moths and whitefly. Nematode parasites in the genus Acuaria have been noted.