The familiar chat (Oenanthe familiaris) is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.

It is a common resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara in rocky and mountainous habitat and around human habitation.

The familiar chat was illustrated and described by the French naturalist François Levaillant in Volume 4 of his Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d'Afrique published in 1805.

[7][8] As part of a reorganization of the species to create monophyletic genera, the familiar chat was moved to the genus Oenanthe.

The underparts vary from off-white to pale grey-brown, and the rump and outer tail feathers are rufous with a dark brown tip.

The Afrikaans name for this species "spekvreter" means "fat-eater", and comes from the fact that it developed the habit of feeding on the lard used to grease wagon axles by the voortrekkers.