Wheatear
| Wheatear | ||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Oenanthe oenanthe |
The Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe is a member of the Thrush family Turdidae.
It is the most widespread member of the wheatear genus Oenanthe in Europe and Asia.
Its English name has nothing to do with wheat or ears, but is a bowdlerised form of white-arse, which refers to its prominent white rump
It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in open stony country in Europe and Asia with a foothold in eastern Canada and Greenland. It tests in rock crevices and rabbit burrows.
All birds winter in Africa, which makes the large, bright Greenland race leucorhea one of the most impressive long-distance migrants.
Wheatear is larger than the European robin. Both sexes have a white rump and tail, with a black inverted T-pattern at the terminal end of the tail.
The summer male has grey upperparts, buff throat and black wings and face mask. In autumn it resembles the female apart from the black wings.
The female is pale brown above and buff below with darker brown wings.
public domain image from a 1905 field guide
The male has a whistling, crackly song. Its call is a typical Chat “chack” noise.
Other members of the wheatear genus include
- Isabelline wheatear, Oenanthe isabellina
- Desert wheatear, Oenanthe deserti
- Black-eared wheatear, Oenanthe hispanica
- Pied wheatear, Oenanthe pleschanka
- Cyprus wheatear, Oenanthe cypriaca
- Finsch's Wheatear, Oenanthe finscii
- Mourning Wheatear, Oenanthe lugens
- Hooded Wheatear, Oenanthe monacha
- White-crowned Wheatear, Oenanthe leucopyga
- Black Wheatear, Oenanthe leucura
- Persian Wheatear, Oenanthe xanthoprymna
- Red-rumped Wheatear, Oenanthe moesta