The Sooty chat is known for its distinctive appearance and its habit of often being seen sitting upright on termite mounds. The bird is 15-18 cm long and has a stout body, relatively short tail and rounded wings. The male has shiny black plumage with white spots on the shoulders that are usually visible even when the bird is resting. The female is uniformly dark brown to dark grey and lacks the white shoulder patches. The bill and legs are black in both sexes. The species occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal in the west to Kenya in the east and south to Angola and Zambia. It prefers open grasslands, savannas, farmland and lightly wooded areas, especially where termite mounds are abundant. It lives from sea level up to almost 3,000 meters above sea level. Its diet consists mainly of insects: termites, ants, beetles, grasshoppers and caterpillars. It also sometimes eats seeds and berries. The nest is shaped like a bowl of grass and is often placed deep inside a tunnel, in a termite mound or in an earth bank. The female usually lays 2-5 white eggs. Both males and females sing. The song is described as a musical and varied mixture of whistles and chirping tones.