Northern Wheatear

Oenanthe oenantheOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Thrushes (Turdidae)

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

Head

Topo Map: Perching-like Head

Bill Shape: All-purpose
Eye Color: Dark brown in all ages.
Head Pattern: Eyeline, Plain, Special (unique patterns or features)
Crown Color: Gray
Forehead Color: Gray with white eyebrow and black mask.
Nape Color: Gray
Throat Color: BUFF
Cere color: No Data

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Body

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Length Range: 14-15 cm (5.5-6 in)
Weight: 14 g (0.5 oz)
Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
Color: White, Black, Gray
Underparts: White with buff breast.
Upperparts: Gray
Back Pattern: Solid
Belly Pattern: Solid
Breast Pattern: Solid

Flight

Topo Map: Perching-like Flight

Flight Pattern: Relatively slow direct flight with shallow wing beats.
Wingspan Range: 27-28 cm (10.5-11 in)
Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
Tail Shape: Pointed Tail
Tail Pattern: Solid
Upper Tail: White
Under Tail: White
Leg Color: Gray-black

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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

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.

● 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.

● 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 Head

Perching-like Body

Perching-like Flight

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