19

White-crowned Wheatears are large wheatears, which are roughly robin-sized birds. As opposed to many other wheatears, the two sexes of this species look alike. Except for the white cap of adult birds, which gives the species its name, and a white vent and undertail, their plumage is all black. Also the irises are black, while the slightly down-curved, pointy bill and the legs and feet are dark-grey. Juvenile White-crowned Wheatears do not have a white crown yet, but are, except for the white vent/undertail, all-black.

NB: The main difference between male Hooded Wheatears and White-crowned Wheatears is that in the former the front is black only from chin to chest, while in the latter the front is black all the way down to the undertail.

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 White-crowned Wheatear is available HERE .

White-crowned Wheatears are true birds of the desert. Their range extends across the Sahara desert and the Arabian desert, from Mauretania and Western Sahara, via the South side of the Atlas mountain range eastward, including desert areas in inland Algeria, towards Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. Their range continues throughout Arabia, to Iraq/Kuwait in the East.
Astonishingly, there are reports of some vagrant White-crowned Wheatears appearing on the English and Dutch/German North Sea coast and also in Poland.

In Arabia White-crowned Wheatears are present mostly in the northern half of the peninsula, both in near-coastal and in inland areas across Saudi Arabia. In Oman they are found primarily around the northern border region with the UAE, in Musandam.

White-crowned Wheatears have a strong preference for stony desert.

Race "ernesti"