What does a wheatear look like?

How far do wheatears travel on average?

Tracking devices have recorded journeys of 30,000 km. What do wheatears look like? Adult male wheatears have blue-grey upperparts with black wings.

What does a female wheatear look like?

In non-breeding plumage female wheatears have pale buff upperparts, wing feathers edged with white and buff, the supercilium is pale buff, and the ear coverts are rufous. The underparts are pale buff. Juvenile wheatears are similar to females but the upperparts are speckled buff and the underparts are scaled brown.

Where do wheatears go when they travel?

Wheatears from Alaska go around the opposite side of the world, traveling through Siberia and Asia to reach Africa. Despite being the same species, the two groups of birds prepare for and then fly their migration routes in radically different ways. Map adapted from Bairlein et al. 2012; base map courtesy of Google Maps.

When do the birds come out in the winter?

Many of these are insect-eaters, which can’t find enough food here in winter. They can appear as early as March, with wheatears, chiffchaffs, sand martins and ring ouzels often the first to arrive. Things heat up in April, with more birds arriving all the time.

How long does it take a wheatear to migrate?

They use strong winds to make a 30-hour, non-stop flight of 2,400 km (1,500 miles), directly from Greenland to southern Europe. All wheatears cross the Mediterranean to Africa via Spain. They migrate by night, relying on their fat reserves for energy.

What is the etymology of wheatear?

Wheatear 1 Etymology. The name “wheatear” is not derived from ” wheat ” or any sense of ” ear “, but is a folk etymology of “white” and ” arse “, referring … 2 Taxonomy. … 3 Description. … 4 Species list 5 Behaviour. … 6 Fossil record.

Where do wheatears migrate from Alaska?

Wheatears from Alaska go around the opposite side of the world, traveling through Siberia and Asia to reach Africa. Despite being the same species, the two groups of birds prepare for and then fly their migration routes in radically different ways.

What do wheatear birds eat and drink?

What do wheatear birds eat? Whenever they can get their beaks on them, they love dried or live mealworms, which are a really valuable source of protein for them. They’re also partial to other insects, larvae and invertebrates, which make up the bulk of their diet.

How do I identify Northern wheatears?

Northern Wheatear is a typically variable species, with both structural and size variation rife. A potential pitfall lies with the larger, longer-legged ‘Greenland’ Wheatear O. o. leucorhoa, which can also appear paler and shows more black on the tail. Lone wheatears in a British context can be challenging to identify unless all features are noted.

How far does a wheatear travel?

Speaking of long distances, the northern wheatear travels up to 9,000 miles each way between the Arctic and Africa, giving it one of the largest ranges of any songbird. What makes this an amazing feat is that the tiny bird weighs less than an ounce, on average.

Is the red tailed wheatear a separate species?

The red-tailed wheatear ( O. chrysopygia) was formerly considered a subspecies of this bird but is now often regarded as a separate species. The two may intergrade in Iran (” O. x. cummingi “) but it is also possible that the rather differently coloured cummingi is in fact a one-year-old O. xanthoprymna with intermediate plumage.

What is the difference between the Kurdish wheatear and red tailed wheatears?

The Kurdish wheatear ( Oenanthe xanthoprymna ), 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 ( O. chrysopygia) was formerly considered a subspecies of this bird but is now often regarded as a separate species.

Where has the desert wheatear gone?

The desert wheatear is an occasional vagrant to the Ireland and Britain, and a female got blown off course in October 2012 during its autumn migration and was seen in a sandpit in Essex. Only a few weeks later, another was seen in the RSPB Loch of Strathbeg reserve in Scotland.

Where do northern wheatears come from?

Northern Wheatears breed all the way across northern Eurasia and reach North America in both the west (Alaska and the Yukon) and the east (the Canadian Arctic). So why don’t we get to see them in the winter, the way we get to see Snow Buntings, American Tree Sparrows, and Snowy Owls?

How long does it take a wheatear to migrate across Asia?

The time that wheatears spend on these migrations was what I found most surprising: birds traveling across Asia took roughly 3 months to reach Africa and two and a half months to return to North America.

Where did the wheatears fly?

From the eastern arctic of Canada, Wheatears traveled through Greenland to northwestern Europe before flying south to western Africa. Their western arctic compatriots went the other way around the globe: they flew westward to Siberia and then diagonally across Asia to wind up in eastern Africa.

How do wheatears get to Africa?

All wheatears cross the Mediterranean to Africa via Spain. They migrate by night, relying on their fat reserves for energy. Many make a refuelling stopover in North Africa. Greenland wheatears, which fly furthest, put on more fat before leaving and spend longer at stopovers.

Is there a difference between northern and Greenland wheatear?

Northern Wheatear is a typically variable species, with both structural and size variation rife. A potential pitfall lies with the larger, longer-legged ‘Greenland’ Wheatear O. o. leucorhoa, which can also appear paler and shows more black on the tail.

What is the difference between Isabelline and northern wheatear?

The Isabelline (far right) appears larger and lacks the contrasts of Northern Wheatear ( photo: Gary Waddington ). The underwing of Isabelline is a lovely pearly-white, compared to the sullied greyish underwing of Northern Wheatear.

What is a desert wheatear?

The desert wheatear ( Oenanthe deserti) is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). It is a migratory insectivorous species, 14.5 to 15 cm (5.7 to 5.9 in) in length.

What is the habitat of a wheatear?

Distribution and habitat. The eastern race of the desert wheatear breeds in a great swathe of Asia extending from the Middle East and Saudi Arabia through Iran, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, the south Caucasus, Turkestan, the Tarbagatai Mountains, the Altai Mountains and north western Mongolia.

How can you tell a wheatear from a bird?

If seen well, the wheatear can be distinguished by its characteristic tail pattern: a black ‘T’ on a white rump, seen when in flight and also by its call (a weak squeak and harsh tjack). What do wheatear birds eat? Whenever they can get their beaks on them, they love dried or live mealworms, which are a really valuable source of protein for them.

What time of year do wheatears breed?

Wheatears breed in May and June. They nest on the ground in a hole under rock, in rock crevices, or in an abandoned burrow. The female builds the nest which is an open-cup made from leaves, stems, moss, feathers, and fur, lined with softer materials, and laid on a foundation of dried stems and grasses.

Where do Alaska’s migratory birds go?

Most are migratory birds for which the Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible under international treaties and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. While some of the birds stay in Alaska year-round, most migrate to Canada, Central America, South America, Asia, or the lower 48 United States.

What is the size of a wheatear?

It is a migratory insectivorous species, 14.5 to 15 cm (5.7 to 5.9 in) in length. Both western and eastern forms of the desert wheatear are rare vagrants to western Europe.

How long does it take for a wheatear to hatch?

Wheatears lay 4-8 pale blue eggs with pale brown markings which are incubated for 12-14 days by both the female and the male. Chicks are fed by both parents and fledge at about 15-17 days after hatching. They depend on their parents for a further 12-13 days and reach sexual maturity at a year. What do wheatears eat?

How do you breed a wheatear?

How do wheatears breed? These birds typically build nests in sheltered cavities between rocks, rabbit burrows or man-made holes in walls. A clutch of four to seven eggs are usually laid in May, hatching after around 13 days. Chicks are ready to fledge approximately two weeks after hatching. Do wheatears migrate?