Sombre rock chat
Oenanthe dubia (Blundell & Lovat, 1899)
The sombre rock chat (Oenanthe dubia) is a species in the family Muscicapidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 19.4 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Data Deficient.
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Quick facts about the sombre rock chat
- Weight
- 19.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Data Deficient (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the sombre rock chat live?
Not recorded
What is the sombre rock chat?
The sombre rock chat (Oenanthe dubia) is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae.
It is native to montane desert of central Ethiopia and possibly far-western Somalia.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
The sombre rock chat was formerly included in the genus Cercomela. Molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2010 and 2012 found that the genus Cercomela was polyphyletic with five species, including the sombre rock chat, phylogenetically nested within the genus Oenanthe. As part of a reorganization of the species to create monotypic genera, the sombre rock chat was moved to the genus Oenanthe.
From the Wikipedia article “Sombre rock chat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sombre_rock_chat&oldid=1315303855), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the sombre rock chat endangered?
The sombre rock chat is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List: it has too little data for its risk to be assessed.
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Data Deficient species. What the categories mean.
How is the sombre rock chat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMuscicapidae
- genusOenanthe
- SpeciesOenanthe dubia (Blundell & Lovat, 1899)
Synonyms Cercomela dubia, Cercomela scotocerca enigma, Myrmecocichla dubia
Other names and names in other languages (32)
- Sombre chatEnglish
- SRCHEnglish
- Жалобна черноопашкаBulgarian
- còlit cendrósCatalan
- skalníček tmavýCzech
- crec craig tywyllWelsh
- Sodgrå StensmutteDanish
- DunkelschmätzerGerman
- DunkelsteinschmätzerGerman
- malhela enantoEsperanto
- Colinegro sombríoSpanish
- awashi kaljutäksEstonian
- abessiniankalliotaskuFinnish
- Traquet sombreFrench
- Traquet de roche sombreFrench
- etiopska bjeloguzaCroatian
- Codinero scuroItalian
- スナイロイワビタキJapanese
- tamsusis uolinis šnekutisLithuanian
- RoetspekvreterDutch
- afarskvettNorwegian
- białorzytka ubogaPolish
- chasco-sombrioPortuguese
- Тёмная чернохвосткаRussian
- Тёмный скромный чеканRussian
- skaliarik krovinovýSlovak
- Žućkasta crnorepkaSerbian
- awashstenskvättaSwedish
- Kül Rengi KuyrukkakanTurkish
- трактрак ефіопськийUkrainian
- 乌岩䳭Chinese
- 烏岩鵖Chinese
Relatives of the sombre rock chat
Other species in the same genus Oenanthe.
Northern wheatear
Oenanthe oenanthe
Isabelline wheatear
Oenanthe isabellina
Desert wheatear
Oenanthe deserti
Western black-eared wheatear
Oenanthe hispanica
Pied wheatear
Oenanthe pleschanka
Black wheatear
Oenanthe leucura
CompareSombre rock chat vs Northern wheatearSombre rock chat vs Isabelline wheatearSombre rock chat vs Desert wheatearSombre rock chat vs Western black-eared wheatear
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the sombre rock chat?
An adult sombre rock chat weighs 19.4 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the sombre rock chat endangered?
The sombre rock chat is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List, meaning it has too little data for its risk to be assessed.
What kind of animal is the sombre rock chat?
The sombre rock chat (Oenanthe dubia) belongs to the family Muscicapidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Sombre rock chat (Oenanthe dubia). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sombre-rock-chat
“Sombre rock chat (Oenanthe dubia).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sombre-rock-chat.
@misc{sombre_rock_chat_2026,
title = {Sombre rock chat (Oenanthe dubia)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sombre-rock-chat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}