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Yellow Chat (Epthianura crocea) Alternate name(s): "Yellow-breasted Chat"; race "macgregori": "Capricorn Yellow Chat" Size: 10-11.5 cm Body mass: 7 - 11 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Yellow Chats are very small insect-eating birds. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Yellow Chats in breeding plumage have a bright-yellow head, rump and front, with a characteristic black crescent on the chest. The nape of the neck and mantle are olive-grey, while the wings are dark-grey with broad yellowish-white edge lining, which gives the folded wings a double-bar pattern. Males in eclipse are much duller, with a greyish-brown head and back, weak dull-yellow supercilia and a greyish-yellow front with only a remnant of a crescent. Only the vent remains bright-yellow. Female Yellow Chats are like males in eclipse, but without any sign of a chest crescent. The irises of both sexes are cream-coloured. Males have a black straight and thin bill, while the bill of females is dark-grey, with a horn-coloured base of the lower mandible. The legs of males are black; those of females are dark-grey. juveniles are duller yet than females, with a greyish front, with an off-white throat and not even a faint eyebrow. Their irises are grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Yellow Chat at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Yellow Chat is available HERE . NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species. Yellow Chats are endemic to Australia. There are three extant races, with a patchy overall distribution across the northern parts of the continent. Nominate race "crocea" is the most widespread by far, with a range extending from near Broome, WA, via the Kimberley and most of the southern half of the NT into the far north-eastern corner of SA and the far-west of QLD. In QLD their distribution extends from the southern coastline of the Gulf of Carpentaria, with occasional reports from the base of Cape York peninsula towards Hinchinbrook, QLD, to near Birdsville, QLD in the far South-west. Race "tunneyi" is found only in a small area in the floodplains of the Top End of the NT, from the Adelaide River to the East Alligator River. The distribution of race "macgregori", is restricted to three small areas in Capricornia, a region in central eastern QLD near Rockhampton: Curtis Island, Torilla Plain and the Fitzroy Delta. Yellow Chats are highly specialised in their habitat requirements, with a strong preference for low shrubs, cumbungi or rank tall grass in the interface with salty marshes. These marshes can be coastal lagoons or inland salty water around bores or salty inland lakes.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "crocea" M. Eaton found a mob of Yellow Chats, race "crocea", along the Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, on two occasions in the timeframe June/July 2026. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton. Race "macgregori" M. Eaton reports finding a Yellow Chat, race "macgregori", at the Cheetham Salt Works, Port Alma Road, near Rockhampton, QLD, in April 2021. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton.

Photos

Race "crocea"

ADULT

MALE

BREEDING

Frontal view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Frontal view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage looking sideways
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-frontal view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-frontal view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage looking sideways
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-frontal view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage looking sideways
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-lateral view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Lateral view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage looking at the observer
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, July 2026]

Lateral view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage looking towards the observer
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Lateral view of a male Yellow Chat in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

NON-BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a male Yellow Chat in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-frontal view of a male Yellow Chat in non-breeding plumage looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Lateral view of a male Yellow Chat in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, July 2026]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Yellow Chat looking at the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-frontal view of a female Yellow Chat looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Lateral view of a female Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-dorsal view of a female Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-dorsal view of a female Yellow Chat looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Dorsal view of a female Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Dorsal view of a female Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of an immature male Yellow Chat - note the dominance of grey hues, with the first dark chest feathers becoming visible (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Lateral view of an immature male Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Lateral view of an immature male Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Frontal view of a juvenile Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Lateral view of a juvenile Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Yellow Chat looking backwards (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, July 2026]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Yellow Chat looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, July 2026]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, July 2026]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, July 2026]

Race "macgregori"

This race is also called the "Capricorn Yellow Chat".

ADULT

MALE

BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a male Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cheetham Salt Works, Port Alma Road, near Rockhampton, QLD, April 2021]

Near-frontal view of a male Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cheetham Salt Works, Port Alma Road, near Rockhampton, QLD, April 2021]

Near-lateral view of a male Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cheetham Salt Works, Port Alma Road, near Rockhampton, QLD, April 2021]

Near-lateral view of a male Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cheetham Salt Works, Port Alma Road, near Rockhampton, QLD, April 2021]

Dorsal view of a male Yellow Chat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cheetham Salt Works, Port Alma Road, near Rockhampton, QLD, April 2021]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a male Yellow Chat taking a spider (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cheetham Salt Works, Port Alma Road, near Rockhampton, QLD, April 2021]

Lateral view of an immature male Yellow Chat with its prey, a butterfly or moth (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Lateral view of a juvenile Yellow Chat with its prey, a flying insect (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Tablelands Highway, north of Barkley Homestead, NT, June 2026]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

yelchat_me_20260617_2.m4a	crocea (E NT)	Various (mob)	© ME
yelchat_me_20260617.m4a	crocea (E NT)	Various (mob)	© ME
yelchat_me_20260710.m4a	crocea (E NT)	Various (+crickets)	© ME
yelchat_me_20260710_2.m4a	crocea (E NT)	Various (+crickets)	© ME

More Yellow Chat sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.