Northern Wheatear

Oenanthe oenantheOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Thrushes (Turdidae)

Codes: Common Name: NOWH Scientific Name: OENOEN ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179814

Northern Wheatear (oenanthe) Breeding Male

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Overview

Northern Wheatear: Small thrush (oenanthe), with gray upperparts, black wings, mask, and tail. Underparts are white, and buff-brown wash on throat. Dark gray back and nape. Very active bird, nervous and restless while foraging. Bobs tail and often makes short flights to hawk insects.

Range and Habitat

Northern Wheatear: Breeds in Alaska and parts of northern Canada; also Eurasia. Eastern Canada birds migrate east through Greenland and Europe, and winter in Africa. Alaska and northwestern Canada birds cross the Bering Strait and make a long westward flight across Asia, also wintering mostly in Africa. Found in grasslands, rocky tundra, and barren slopes.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chack-chack", "hweet"

Interesting Facts

The Northern Wheatear 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 species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Motacilla oenanthe.

The scientific name oenanthe is from ancient Greek and means "wine-flower," alluding to the fact that these birds return to Greece in the spring just as the vineyards blossom.

A group of wheatears are collectively known as a "bowl" and a "shaft" of wheatears.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

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Samira Belous

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Northern Wheatear

● Song: "chack-chack", "hweet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Northern Wheatear: Eats insects, fruits, seeds, small bulbs, centipedes, and snails. Forages mostly on the ground, running short distances and then stopping to pick up items; runs and flutters in pursuit of fleeing insects; also watches from a low perch, flying down to take prey on the ground. Sometimes flies out to catch insects in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Northern Wheatear: Three to eight pale blue eggs, with red brown flecks, are laid in a nest made of grass, roots and moss, lined with finer materials, and built in a rock crevice, wood pile, on the ground, or on a cliff ridge. Eggs are incubated for 14 days mostly by the female.

● Similar species: Northern Wheatear: Brown Shrike is smaller and has shorter bill.

Flight Pattern

Relatively slow direct flight with shallow wing beats.

Northern Wheatear (oenanthe) Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Northern Wheatear: Breeds in Alaska and parts of northern Canada; also Eurasia. Eastern Canada birds migrate east through Greenland and Europe, and winter in Africa. Alaska and northwestern Canada birds cross the Bering Strait and make a long westward flight across Asia, also wintering mostly in Africa. Found in grasslands, rocky tundra, and barren slopes.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America