Red-rumped wheatear

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Red-rumped wheatear
Red-rumped Wheatear - Boumelne - Maroc 07 3037 (19220647799).jpg
in Boumalne, Morocco
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Oenanthe
Species:
O. moesta
Binomial name
Oenanthe moesta

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

Contents

Description

The red-rumped wheatear is a compact, big-headed wheatear with a rufous rump and all dark tail. the male has a grey crown and nape with a black throat and face and white supercilium. The shoulders and back are black with white fringes to the feathers, the rump and base of the tail are rufous and the distal part of the tail is black. Female is paler with a rufous crown and cheeks. Juveniles are similar to females but are less rufous and do show faint spots and streaks. Length is 16 cm. The fly low to the ground with a loose flapping flight that resembles a skylark. [3] [4]

Voice

The territorial song, given by both sexes, seems to vary geographically from a harsher chattering song in the west to a more melodious. pleasant and repetitive "twee-churr-urr-urr" in Cyrenaica. The courtship song sounds like an old fashioned boiling kettle, a long warbling whistle rising in pitch given in duet by both sexes. The alarm and contact calls are typically chat like harsh clicks. [3]

Distribution and subspecies

There are two recognised subspecies of Red-rumped wheatear, they are: [2]

Habitat

The red-rumped wheatear avoids real deserts and is normally found in flat areas, especially near saline or barren areas. In Morocco uses more vegetated areas than the desert wheatear and also found in rocky hills. [3]

Habits

The red-rumped wheatear has a prolonged breeding season from late February through to June in North Africa, and it may have up to three broods. The nest is usually placed in a small mammal's burrow, up to 2m underground, or sometimes in a natural hole or a cavity in a wall and sometimes hidden under a bush. The nest is a cup made out of plant material and lined with feathers, woo, and hair, and even shed snakeskin. The clutch is 4-5 but very little is known about the breeding behaviour of this species. [3]

Related Research Articles

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karoo chat</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowned sandgrouse</span> Species of bird

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<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

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<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 (2018). "Oenanthe moesta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22710299A132086542. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22710299A132086542.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Oenanthe moesta (Lichtenstein, 1823)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (https://www.itis.gov). Retrieved 2016-11-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Snow, D.W.; Perrins, C.M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic Concise Edition Volume 2 Passerines. Oxford University Press. pp. 1188–1190. ISBN   0-19-850188-9.
  4. Mark Beaman; Steve Madge (1998). The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic . Christopher Helm. pp.  616–617. ISBN   0-7136-3960-1.
  5. 1 2 "Red-rumped Wheatear Oenanthe moesta (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823)". Avibase. Denis Lepage. Retrieved 2016-11-27.