The male has a glossy black with a chestnut belly, vent, and rump and white shoulder patches.

[3][5] The mocking cliff chat occurs in a neat band from central Ethiopia in the north through east Africa into Zimbabwe, south-eastern Botswana, southern Mozambique and eastern South Africa as far as the far east of Western Cape province.

[5] Both sexes build the nest, taking about a week to construct an open cup built over a foundation of twigs, leaves, roots and feathers and lined with the hair of mammals.

The nest is usually positioned below a rock overhang, bridge, culvert or in a cave and it may sometimes be placed in a hole in a wall or in a cavity in agricultural machinery.

[6] There are six currently recognised subspecies[2][4] The white-crowned cliff chat (Thamnolaea coronata) of West Africa is sometimes included in this species.