Do not chat all day long with yellow chats.
- Yellow chats are birds from the family Meliphagidae, which is the family of honeyeaters.
- Yellow chats have yellow coloured coats and the males have a black crescent on their chest.
- The scientific name of yellow chats is Epthianura crocea and there are three subspecies.
- Yellow chats are native to the Australian tropics and different subspecies are exclusive to specific areas.
- Some subspecies of yellow chats are ranked from endangered, to least concerned, and they are threatened mainly by the destruction of their habitat by various invasive plant species, wild pigs and other feral animals, and salinisation issues.
Photo courtesy of Val Laird
- Yellow chats grow to be 10-12 cm (4 to 4.7 inches) long, and on average 9.3 grams (0.3 ounce) in weight.
- Some subspecies of yellow chats have a population of approximately 50 to 500, while others are more numerous.
- Yellow chats generally live among long grass, particularly in the wetlands or grasslands.
- Yellow chats build cup shaped nests from grass, feathers and other vegetation, and lay 2-3 eggs that are coloured white with black/red speckles.
- Yellow chats have a diet mainly consisting of various insects that they find in a range of habitats.
Bibliography:
Yellow Chat (Epthianura crocea), 2013, Birdlife International, http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=5391
Yellow Chat (Epthianura crocea), n.d, The Internet Bird Collection, http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=539
