Variable wheatear

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Variable wheatear
Variable wheatear (Oenanthe picata picata) male.jpg
Male O. p. picata
Variable wheatear (Oenanthe picata capistrata) male.jpg
Male O. p. capistrata
Both Jawai, Rajasthan, India
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Oenanthe
Species:
O. picata
Binomial name
Oenanthe picata
(Blyth, 1847)

The variable wheatear (Oenanthe picata) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.

Contents

Its natural habitat is hot deserts.

Description

O. p. opistholeuca Oenanthe picata opistholeuca - Variable Wheatear at Tal Chappar, Rajasthan.jpg
O. p. opistholeuca

The variable wheatear is a bird of arid and semi-arid region, and is locally abundant in barren rocky areas, sand dunes with scrub vegetation, cultivation, ravines, outside villages and nomadic encampments. [2]

It is polymorphic and has three distinct morphs.

  1. Black-bellied phase ('opistholeuca'). Male (adult). Entirely jet black except rump, under tail-coverts, base and sides of tail which are white; central rectrices and terminal band of tail black. Female has black parts replaced by sooty black.
  2. White-bellied phase ('picata') Male (adult). Like the preceding but belly white. Female similar to male but black parts replaced by grayish brown; belly more buffish.
  3. White-crowned phase ('capistrata'). Male (adult). Like picata, with white belly and black throat, but crown and nape white. Female similar to male but black parts and crown earthy brown; belly more buffish.

The geographical dominance of the three types of females does not exactly correspond to the dominances of the three color phases of the males, but in their wintering grounds there is some corresponding separation. [3]

Distribution and habitat

This species is found in northeast and southeast Iran and Turkmenistan eastern to western Tien Shan, Pamirs, and northern and western Pakistan; non-breeding in southwest Asia. [4] Common and generally distributed in winter in Pakistan and northwestern India southeast to Delhi, central Madhya Pradesh and northern Maharashtra (Khandesh). Arrives on breeding grounds in March (Baluchistan) or mid April (Chitral), remains till September. May be seen in winter quarters from the beginning of August (Karachi dist) till the end of March. [3]

In winter frequents stony semi-desert, and desert with sparsely scrubbed sand dunes, cultivation, ravines, outskirts of villages and nomadic encampments, cattle corrals, etc.; usually from almost sea level to c. 1200 m, but has been observed also at 2700 m in deep snow. [3]

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">Pied wheatear</span> Species of bird

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.

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

The white-crowned wheatear, or white-crowned 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, Muscicapidae.

<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">Rufous-tailed scrub robin</span> Species of bird

The rufous-tailed scrub robin is a medium-sized member of the family Muscicapidae. Other common names include the rufous scrub robin, rufous bush chat, rufous bush robin and the rufous warbler. It breeds around the Mediterranean and east to Pakistan. It also breeds south of the Sahara from the Sahel region east to Somalia; these African birds are sometimes considered to be a separate species, the African scrub robin. It is partially migratory, wintering in Africa and India. This is a very rare visitor to northern Europe.

<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">Mountain wheatear</span> Species of bird

The mountain wheatear or mountain chat is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to southwestern Africa.

<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">Brown rock chat</span> Species of bird (Oenanthe fusca)

The brown rock chat or Indian chat is a bird species of the family Muscicapidae. It is found mainly in northern and central India. It is often found on old buildings and rocky areas. It resembles a female Indian robin but lacks the reddish vent and differs in posture and behaviour apart from being larger. In flight it bears some resemblance to thrushes and redstarts. It feeds on insects, captured mainly on the ground. It was formerly placed as the sole species in the genus Cercomela but is now included with the wheatears in the genus Oenanthe.

<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">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.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2019). "Oenanthe picata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T22710295A155609933. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22710295A155609933.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Sanjay Thakur; Rajiv Pandit & Anil Mahabal (2015). "First record of Variable Wheatear Oenanthe picata (Aves: Passeriformes: Muscicapidae) from Osmanabad District and range extension to southeastern Maharashtra, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 7 (3): 7042–7043. doi: 10.11609/jott.o4265.7042-3 .
  3. 1 2 3 Salim Ali & S Dillon Ripley (1998). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 9 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 51–53.
  4. Collar, N. (2016). Variable Wheatear (Oenanthe picata). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/58542 on 31 July 2016)