Mourning wheatear

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Mourning wheatear
Oenanthe lugens Petra, Jordan 1.jpg
In Petra, Jordan
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Oenanthe
Species:
O. lugens
Binomial name
Oenanthe lugens

The mourning wheatear (Oenanthe lugens) is a bird, one of 14 species of wheatear found in northern Africa and the Middle East. It is a small passerine in a group formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, but now more generally considered to be part of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.

The mourning wheatear was first described by Martin Lichtenstein in 1823. It is found in semi-desert areas in North Africa and the Middle East. It is sexually dimorphic with the females sporting more subtle plumage.

Panov (Wheatears of Palearctic, 2005) discusses the latest taxonomy for the mourning wheatear superspecies. The mourning wheatear is split from Abyssinian wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris), which is the species found south of the Sahara. The Maghreb wheatear (O. halophila) and basalt wheatear (O. warriae) were formerly considered subspecies of the mourning wheatear, but were split as distinct species by the IOC in 2021. [2] The Egyptian populations of O. lugens are discussed in Baha El Din and Baha El Din (2000). [3] These birds differ from halophila in exhibiting less sexual dimorphism, and displaying a prominent white wingbar, and thus are closer to the nominate race.

It has been recorded in the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheatear</span> Genus of birds

The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. This is an Old World group, but the northern wheatear has established a foothold in eastern Canada and Greenland and in western Canada and Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabelline wheatear</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert wheatear</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western black-eared wheatear</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyprus wheatear</span> Species of bird

The Cyprus wheatear or Cyprus pied wheatear is a small, 14–15 cm long 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 was formerly treated as a subspecies (race) of pied wheatear but Sluys and van den Berg (1982) argued that the form deserved full species status, on the basis of differences in biometrics and especially song, and the lack of sexual plumage dimorphism in cypriaca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern wheatear</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black wheatear</span> Species of bird

The black 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 of the Muscicapidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooded wheatear</span> Species of bird

The hooded wheatear is a wheatear, a small insectivorous passerine 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finsch's wheatear</span> Species of bird

Finsch's wheatear is a wheatear, a small insectivorous passerine that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher of the family Muscicapidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capped wheatear</span> Species of bird

The capped wheatear is 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, Muscicapidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-rumped wheatear</span> Species of bird

The red-rumped wheatear or buff-rumped wheatear is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in North Africa and the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurdish wheatear</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-tailed wheatear</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heuglin's wheatear</span> Species of bird

Heuglin's wheatear is a small passerine bird in the wheatear genus Oenanthe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abyssinian wheatear</span> Species of bird

The Abyssinian wheatear, or Abyssinian black wheatear, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found from Ethiopia to southern Kenya and northeastern Tanzania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern black-eared wheatear</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlas wheatear</span> Subspecies of bird

The Atlas wheatear, 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 as O. o. seebohmi, but was reclassified as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maghreb wheatear</span> Species of bird

The Maghreb wheatear is a bird, a species of wheatear found in northern Africa. It is a small passerine in a group formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, but now more generally considered to be part of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.

The basalt wheatear is a bird, a species of wheatear found in Jordan and Syria. It is a small passerine in a group formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, but now more generally considered to be part of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2019). "Oenanthe lugens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T106000073A155609396. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T106000073A155609396.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List" . Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  3. Baha El Din, Sherif and Mindy Baha El Din (2000) The occurrence of Mourning Wheatear Oenanthe lugens halophila in Egypt Sandgrouse 22(2): 109-12

Further reading