White-crowned wheatear

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White-crowned wheatear
Oenanthe leucopyga.jpg
In Makhtesh Ramon, Israel
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Oenanthe
Species:
O. leucopyga
Binomial name
Oenanthe leucopyga
(Brehm, 1855)

The white-crowned wheatear, or white-crowned black wheatear (Oenanthe leucopyga) 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.

This large 17–18 cm long wheatear breeds in stony deserts from the Sahara and Arabia across to Iraq. It is largely resident but has occurred as a rare vagrant to western Europe as far away as Great Britain. It nests in crevices in rocks or walls laying 3-5 eggs.

Although most wheatear species have distinctive male and female plumages, adults of both sexes of this species are black except for a white rump and mainly white tail. Full adults have a white crown, not shown by young birds.

The similar black wheatear, Oenanthe leucura, also breeds in the western part of the white-crowned wheatear's range, but the latter has a black inverted T on its white tail, whereas white-crowned has only a black centre to its tail. The black wheatear never has a white crown.

This species mainly eats insects. This wheatear has a loud song, more varied than most of its relatives and often including mimicry.

White-crowned wheatear in Eilat, Israel White crowned wheatear easton.jpg
White-crowned wheatear in Eilat, Israel

Etymology

The genus name Oenanthe is derived from the Ancient Greek oenos (οίνος) "wine" and anthos (ανθός) "flower". It refers to the northern wheatear's return to Greece in the spring just as the grapevines blossom. The specific leucopyga is Ancient Greek from leukos, "white", and puge, "rump". [2] "Wheatear" is not derived from "wheat" or any sense of "ear", but is a 16th-century linguistic corruption of "white" and "arse", referring to the prominent white rump found in many species. [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">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">Masked shrike</span> Migratory bird in the family Laniidae

The masked shrike is a species of bird in the shrike family, Laniidae. It breeds in southeastern Europe and at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, with a separate population in eastern Iraq and western Iran. It is migratory, wintering mainly in northeast Africa. Although it is a short-range migrant, vagrants have occurred widely elsewhere, including northern and western Europe. It is the smallest member of its genus, long-tailed and with a hooked bill. The male has mainly black upperparts, with white on its crown, forehead and supercilium and large white patches on the shoulders and wings. The throat, neck sides and underparts are white, with orange flanks and breast. The female is a duller version of the male, with brownish black upperparts and a grey or buff tone to the shoulders and underparts. The juvenile has grey-brown upperparts with a paler forehead and barring from the head to rump, barred off-white underparts and brown wings аpart from the white primary patches. The species' calls are short and grating, but the song has melodic warbler-like components.

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

The variable wheatear 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.

<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">Chilean swallow</span> Species of bird

The Chilean swallow is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. It breeds in Chile and Patagonia, migrating north as far as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Rio Grande do Sul.

<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">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 (2016). "Oenanthe leucopyga". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22710238A94240236. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710238A94240236.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp.  225, 280. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. "Wheatear" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)