Let's chat about chats

Ion delves into the world of charismatic chats at Dropping Well Farm...

Robin on grass by Jon Hawkins Surrey Hills Photography

Dropping Well Farm is alive with birdsong at this time of year, making it the perfect opportunity to shine a light on one of its most charismatic groups of insect-eating birds: chats.

There are a few useful clues that can help you identify chats. Males often have an orange breast, to varying degrees, along with striking head plumage, which contrasts with the more muted, overall browns of the females. There's always an exception and in this case, it's our familiar robins, which are also chats. Unlike many chats, male and female robins look identical. During winter, both sexes hold territories and sing to defend them. You can’t walk far on Dropping Well Farm, or anywhere for that matter, without encountering robins. A common feature amongst juvenile chats is their speckled appearance. If you’ve ever seen a young robin, you can see why they belong firmly in the chat family.

Stonechat sitting in bush by Jon Hawkins, Surrey Hills Photography

One of the most encouraging developments in recent years has been the emergence of Dropping Well Farm as an increasingly important area for breeding and overwintering stonechats within the county. I must admit to being a bit of a fanboy when it comes to stonechats, they have some charming mannerisms that makes watching them for any length of time an absolute delight.

Only two British species of bird actually have ‘chat’ in their name: stonechats and whinchats. It is their very distinctive clicking call that gives them their name, because it really does sound like two stones being struck together. It is well worth keeping a look out along the path beside the railway for the black head and white collar of the males; they often sit on top of the fence posts. Without wishing to be unkind to stonechats that, make no mistake are smart looking birds, in my opinion whinchats are their smarter plumaged cousins. I think it’s something to do with their wide, bright white, eye-stripe. Although whinchats are an uncommon passage migrant on Dropping Well Farm and the adjoining heath, in the past they used to outnumber stonechats as a breeding bird. To date I have only seen two here since I started with the Trust in 2021, but my eyes are always peeled during the spring and autumn migration periods.

Interestingly, all these chats were historically thought to be thrushes and, whilst growing up, I certainly saw robins as mini thrushes. It was only in the 1990s that DNA research revealed that these small, almost ground-nesting, songbirds are more closely related to flycatchers and not thrushes at all.

Redstart sitting on a branch - the bird has an orange/red tummy, black/blue face and blue/grey head

That brings us nicely to redstarts, the least ‘chat’ looking of chats, at least in my view. They do have more of a thrush-like vibe to them. The males are extremely handsome chaps, sporting a black face topped with a silver fringe that merges into the grey that continues down their backs. Both sexes have orangey-red tails, which gives them their name, ‘steort’ being the old English word for tail. This is longer than that of other chats and it quivers almost constantly. They are primarily a woodland species, rather than being birds of open ground, and nest in tree cavities but, like robins, will use nest boxes. If both are lacking, they have also been known to nest on the ground. I most often encounter redstarts along the hedgerows during autumn migration, though a small number of breeding pairs can still be found within the wider area.

From common robins to uncommon whinchats, keeping an eye out for chats while walking across Dropping Well Farm is always rewarding, whatever the season. The future success of these birds is closely tied to the aims of Project Yellowhammer. Returning yellowhammers to the heath and supporting their population growth remains at the heart of the project, with their presence carefully monitored on every visit.

Visitors can also play an important role. By keeping dogs on leads and sticking to paths, we can help protect ground-nesting birds like yellowhammers and chats, giving future generations the chance to thrive and continue delighting everyone who visits Dropping Well Farm.