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19

Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) Size: 14.5-15 cm; wing span 24-29 cm Weight: 15-34 g

Oman: Family Group 19 Family Group 19 Table Rufous Bush Robin Black Redstart Common Redstart Blue Rock Thrush Red-tailed Wheatear Isabelline Wheatear Desert Wheatear White-crowned Wheatear Hume's Wheatear Arabian Babbler Thumbnails page Classification table Index of bird names Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Desert Wheatears are robin-sized birds. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Desert Wheatears have a conspicuous black facial mask covering the gapes, ear coverts, chin and sides of the neck. Probably when the plumage is worn the frons, crown, back and front are all cream-coloured. At other times the front can be light-buff, while the frons, crown and back are brownish-grey. The wings show a white shoulder patch and black flight feathers with thin white edges. The undertail coverts and rump are off-white, the tail itself is black. Females have duller colours overall and instead of the black facial mask they only have dark eye stripes. The irises of both sexes are black. The relatively long, straight and slender bill is black, the legs and feet are dark-grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Desert Wheatear at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Desert Wheatear is available HERE . There are four recognized races of Desert Wheatears. The Asian population breeds in an area extending from the Middle East and northern Saudi Arabia through Iran, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, the southern Caucasus, Turkestan, the Tarbagatai mountains, the Altai mountains on into north-western Mongolia. These populations migrate southwards to spend the winters in north-eastern Africa, the Arabian peninsula, Iraq and Pakistan. The African population is resident in north-western Africa and breeds from Marocco to Egypt westward of the river Nile. Desert Wheatears are mostly found as winter visitors in Arabia. Desert Wheatears have a preference for mountainous, stony and even barren country with few shrubs. During the winter they come closer to human settlements, e.g. around (fallow) agricultural land, semi-desert scrub and wadis.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "atrogularis" A single male Desert Wheatear, race "atrogularis", was spotted by us in a dry riverbed (wadi) at Qurm, near Muscat, Oman, in December 2009. Then two birds were spotted on the Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, in January 2010.

Photos

Race "atrogularis"

ADULT

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male Desert Wheatear looking sideways
[Qurm, December 2009]

Lateral view of a male Desert Wheatear
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, January 2010]

Lateral view of a male Desert Wheatear, now looking away from the observer
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, January 2010]

FEMALE

Lateral view of a female Desert Wheatear in autumn (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[November 2017]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a first-year male Desert Wheatear (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[November 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a Desert Wheatear; this bird appears to be moulting into fresh plumage, possibly a first-year male moulting into its first adult plumage
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, January 2010]

Food, Diet

Like all other wheatears, Desert Wheatears are insectivores. Most wheatears hunt for insects from low to mid-level perches.

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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