Atlas wheatear | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Genus: | Oenanthe |
Species: | O. seebohmi |
Binomial name | |
Oenanthe seebohmi (Dixon, 1882) | |
The Atlas wheatear (Oenanthe seebohmi), also known as the black-throated wheatear or Seebohm's wheatear, is a small passerine bird which breeds in the Maghreb region of North Africa and winters in the western Sahel. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the northern wheatear (O. oenanthe) as O. o. seebohmi, but was reclassified as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021. [2]
Seebohm's wheatear was formerly regarded as the North African subspecies of the widespread Northern wheatear of Eurasia, Greenland and northern North America, however, it is now regarded as a full species. [3] Atlas wheatear has been proposed as the English common name for this species by the International Ornithological Committee. [4]
Adult male Atlas wheatears in breeding are very distinctive when compared to northern wheatear, having a black throat, face, lores and ear coverts, sometimes extending to the uppermost part of the breast, occasionally with some buff mixed in. Upperparts are similar to adult male Northern wheatear but sometimes has more white on the forehead and less extensive area of black on the tip of the tail where the white colour may extend along the outer tail. The axillaries and underwing coverts are black and the underparts are often whiter than in northern wheatear. After the post-breeding moult the upperparts are pale brown with the wing coverts, primaries, secondaries and tertials finely tipped with buff while the greater coverts show whitish tips. The fresh black throat is spotted with paler tips to the feathers and the breast has a buffish tinge. The females are variable from closely resembling the females of the nominate subspecies or showing brown ear coverts and having black or blackish-brown colour over the chin and lores tipped with buff, grey or sandy colour. The upperparts are greyer, often similar to the adult male, although may show a more buffy shade. [5]
The Atlas wheatear's song is slightly slower and lower pitched than that of the northern wheatear, with its melodious rising and falling phrases being more distinct than in Northern. Calls are otherwise similar to the northern wheatear. [5]
The Atlas wheatear has a disjunct breeding range in northwestern Africa: in north-eastern Morocco where it breeds in the Rif, the Middle Atlas, the High Atlas and central Anti Atlas mountains with another population in north-eastern Algeria in the Aurès Mountains and in the Djurdjura Range. It winters in the western Sahel, mainly in south-western Mauritania, northern Senegal and western Mali with smaller numbers in central Mali and some seen at times in winter in southern Morocco. [5] The bulk of the population winters between 15–18°N and 09–16°W. [6] It is estimated that 50,000 Seebohm's wheatears winter in west Africa where they overlap with Northern wheatears. [5]
The Atlas wheatear breeds in mountains on stony plataeux and sparsely vegetated slopes with scattered boulders between 1,700 and 2,300m, although may breed as low as 150m in Algeria. [5] It nests in holes in the ground or between boulders. [7] It winters in open areas of semi-arid savanna although it favours the more humid Guinea savanna with scattered trees such as acacia, Balanites and Salvadora over more arid regions nearer the edge of the desert. [5]
The black-throated loon, also known as the Arctic loon and the black-throated diver, is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere, primarily breeding in freshwater lakes in northern Europe and Asia. It winters along sheltered, ice-free coasts of the north-east Atlantic Ocean and the eastern and western Pacific Ocean. This loon was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and has two subspecies. It was previously considered to be the same species as the Pacific loon, of which it is traditionally considered to be a sister species, although this is debated. In a study that used mitochondrial and nuclear intron DNA, the black-throated loon was found to be sister to a clade consisting of the Pacific loon and two sister species, the common loon and the yellow-billed loon.
The isabelline wheatear is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher in the family Muscicapidae. It is a migratory insectivorous bird. Its habitat is steppe and open countryside and it breeds in southern Russia and Central Asia to northern Pakistan, wintering in Africa and northwestern India. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The desert wheatear is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). It is a migratory insectivorous species, 14.5 to 15 cm in length. Both western and eastern forms of the desert wheatear are rare vagrants to western Europe. The western desert wheatear breeds in the Sahara and the northern Arabian Peninsula. The eastern race is found in the semi-deserts of Central Asia and in winter in Pakistan and northeast Africa.
The western black-eared wheatear is a wheatear, a small migratory passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher. It was formerly considered conspecific with the eastern black-eared wheatear.
The pied wheatear is a wheatear, a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher. This migratory central Asiatic wheatear occurs from the extreme southeast of Europe to China, and has been found wintering in India and northeastern Africa. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The northern wheatear or wheatear is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It is the most widespread member of the wheatear genus Oenanthe in Europe and North and Central Asia.
Pallas's leaf warbler or Pallas's warbler, is a bird that breeds in mountain forests from southern Siberia east to northern Mongolia and northeast China. It is named after the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas, who first formally described it. This leaf warbler is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in south China and adjacent areas of southeast Asia, although in recent decades increasing numbers have been found in Europe in autumn.
The ruddy turnstone is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria.
The little bittern is a wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
The buff-bellied hummingbird is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States.
The scallop-breasted antpitta is a Near Threatened species of bird in the family Grallariidae. It is endemic to Venezuela.
The black-throated tody-tyrant is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
The ashy flycatcher is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the drier areas of South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia, where it inhabits subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and savanna. It has a disputed generic placement, with different authorities variously putting it in Muscicapa, Fraseria, or other genera. Ashy flycatchers are mostly grey in colour, with pale grey or white underparts, and display no sexual dimorphism.
The Kurdish wheatear, also known as the Kurdistan wheatear, the chestnut-rumped wheatear or the red-rumped wheatear, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. The red-tailed wheatear was formerly considered a subspecies of this bird but is now often regarded as a separate species. The two may intergrade in Iran but it is also possible that the rather differently coloured cummingi is in fact a one-year-old O. xanthoprymna with intermediate plumage.
The red-tailed wheatear, also known as the rusty-tailed wheatear, Persian wheatear or Afghan wheatear, is a small passerine bird breeding in mountainous areas of south-west and central Asia. It belongs to the wheatear genus Oenanthe which was formerly placed in the thrush family Turdidae but is now in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The red-tailed wheatear used to be considered a subspecies of the Kurdish wheatear but is now often regarded as a separate species.
The black-fronted bushshrike is a passerine bird of the bushshrike family, Malaconotidae. It inhabits forests mainly in East Africa. It forms a superspecies with the many-colored bushshrike and the two are sometimes considered to be a single species.
Heuglin's wheatear is a small passerine bird in the wheatear genus Oenanthe.
The Tibetan blackbird is a species of bird in the thrush family Turdidae. It is found in the Himalayas from northern Pakistan to southeastern Tibet. Originally described as a separate species by Henry Seebohm in 1881, it was then considered a subspecies of the common blackbird until 2008, when phylogenetic evidence revealed that it was only distantly related to the latter species. It is a relatively large thrush, having an overall length of 23–28 centimetres. Males are blackish-brown all over with darker plumage on the head, breast, wings and tail and dull orange-yellow bills, while females have browner underparts, faint streaking on the throat, and a dull darkish yellow bill. Both sexes may seem slightly hooded. It can be differentiated from the common blackbird by its complete lack of an eye-ring and reduced song.
The Abyssinian wheatear, or Abyssinian black wheatear, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae, the Old World flycatchers and chats. It is found from Ethiopia to southern Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania.
The eastern black-eared wheatear is a wheatear, a small migratory passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher. It was formerly considered conspecific with the western black-eared wheatear.
Recordings at Xeno-Canto http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Oenanthe-oenanthe?query=ssp:%22seebohmi%22