Chats are a small group of slender perching birds once thought to belong to the thrush family. However, they were found to be more closely related to the Old World flycatchers and have now been placed into that family. The 15 species are mostly insectivores and favour open grassland with scattered shrubs and bushes for cover. The whinchat and stonechat will be the most familiar species in the UK and a wider Europe. Island chat species, such as those found on Reunion and Madagascar, have smaller ranges.

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