Chat

Chat (Saxicola), a genus of small birds in the Thrush family (Turdidae). The bill at the base is broader than its height, and the upper portion is not hooked. The genus includes some thirty-six species, especially at home in northern temperate regions, frequenting dry stony places, and nesting in holes. They are lively birds, flitting about rapidly and untiringly in pursuit of insects, on which they chiefly feed. The Wheatear (S. aenanthe) is a good example, found in Europe, North Africa, and North America, and along with other chats frequent in Britain. Yellow-breasted Chat is a popular name for a bird common in the United States, and technically known as Icteria virens.