Wheatear
Genus of birds
title: "Wheatear" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["wheatears", "taxa-named-by-louis-pierre-vieillot"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/wheatears" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatear" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
::callout[type=note] the genus of birds ::
| name = Wheatears | image = Northern wheatear male09.JPG | image_caption = Male northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) | taxon = Oenanthe | authority = Vieillot, 1816 | type_species = Motacilla oenanthe | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | synonyms = Cercomela
The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. This is an Old World group, but the northern wheatear has established a foothold in eastern Canada and Greenland and in western Canada and Alaska.
Taxonomy
The genus Oenanthe was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816 with Oenanthe leucura, the black wheatear, as the type species. The genus formerly included fewer species but molecular phylogenetic studies of birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae found that the genus Cercomela was polyphyletic with five species, including the type species C. melanura, phylogenetically nested within the genus Oenanthe. This implied that Cercomela and Oenanthe were synonyms. The genus Oenanthe (Vieillot, 1816) has taxonomic priority over Cercomela (Bonaparte, 1856) making Cercomela a junior synonym. The genus name Oenanthe was used by Aristotle for an unidentified bird. The word is derived from the Greek oenoē meaning "vine" and anthos meaning "bloom". The bird was associated with the grape harvest season.
The name "wheatear" is not derived from "wheat" or any sense of "ear", but is a folk etymology of "white" and "arse", referring to the prominent white rump found in most species.
Description
Most species have characteristic black and white or red and white markings on their rumps or their long tails. Most species are strongly sexually dimorphic; only the male has the striking plumage patterns characteristic of the genus, though the females share the white or red rump patches.
Species list
The genus contains 31 species:
::data[format=table]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Oenanthe oenanthe 01 II.jpg | 120px]] | Northern wheatear | Oenanthe oenanthe |
| [[File:Oenanthe seebohmi, Morocco 1.jpg | 120px]] | Atlas wheatear | Oenanthe seebohmi |
| [[File:Capped Wheatear, Oenanthe pileata, at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape, South Africa (36045617096).jpg | 120px]] | Capped wheatear | Oenanthe pileata |
| - | Buff-breasted wheatear | Oenanthe bottae | Asir Mountains |
| [[File:2009-0726-OenaBott-Ethiopia-LakeTana-170.jpg | 120px]] | Rusty-breasted wheatear | Oenanthe frenata |
| [[File:Isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) male, non-breeding.jpg | 120px]] | Isabelline wheatear | Oenanthe isabellina |
| - | Heuglin's wheatear | Oenanthe heuglinii | northern Sub-Saharan Africa |
| [[File:Oenanthe monacha 93093541.jpg | 120px]] | Hooded wheatear | Oenanthe monacha |
| [[File:Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) (8079430894).jpg | 120px]] | Desert wheatear | Oenanthe deserti |
| [[File:CollalbaRubia.jpg | 120px]] | Western black-eared wheatear | Oenanthe hispanica |
| [[File:Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) (8079431820).jpg | 120px]] | Pied wheatear | Oenanthe pleschanka |
| [[File:Oostelijke-blonde-tapuit-3-2 (28541306412).jpg | 120px]] | Eastern black-eared wheatear | Oenanthe melanoleuca |
| [[File:Cyprus Wheatear, Avagas, Cyprus 1.jpg | 120px]] | Cyprus wheatear | Oenanthe cypriaca |
| [[File:Oenanthe albifrons.jpg | 120px]] | White-fronted black chat | Oenanthe albifrons |
| - | Somali wheatear | Oenanthe phillipsi | Horn of Africa |
| [[File:Red-rumped wheatear (Oenanthe moesta moesta) male Kebili.jpg | 120px]] | Red-rumped wheatear | Oenanthe moesta |
| [[File:Blackstart-2006.01.04 m217.jpg | 120px]] | Blackstart | Oenanthe melanura |
| [[File:Oenanthe familiaris at Kgalagadi (45974838501).jpg | 120px]] | Familiar chat | Oenanthe familiaris |
| - | Brown-tailed rock chat | Oenanthe scotocerca | Chad, western Sudan and Horn of Africa |
| - | Sombre rock chat | Oenanthe dubia | montane desert of central Ethiopia |
| [[File:20191210 Brązowy ptak w Dźodhpurze 1051 7865.jpg | 120px]] | Brown rock chat | Oenanthe fusca |
| [[File:Variable wheatear (Oenanthe picata picata) male.jpg | 120px]] | Variable wheatear | Oenanthe picata |
| winters to UAE and northwestern India | |||
| [[File:Çilferşik.jpg | 120px]] | Finsch's wheatear | Oenanthe finschii |
| [[File:Les oiseaux d'Egypte - panoramio - youssef alam (1).jpg | 120px]] | Mourning wheatear | Oenanthe lugens |
| [[File:Oenanthe xanthoprymna - Kurdish Wheatear, Osmaniye, Turkey 01.jpg | 120px]] | Kurdish wheatear | Oenanthe xanthoprymna |
| [[File:Red Tailed Wheatear.jpg | 120px]] | Red-tailed wheatear | Oenanthe chrysopygia |
| [[File:Saharasteinschmaetzer.jpg | 120px]] | White-crowned wheatear | Oenanthe leucopyga |
| [[File:Oenanthe albonigra 91218790.jpg | 120px]] | Hume's wheatear | Oenanthe albonigra |
| [[File:Black Wheatear - Merzouga Marocco 07 3429 (19400616192).jpg | 120px]] | Black wheatear | Oenanthe leucura |
| [[File:Oenanthe lugentoides.jpg | 120px]] | Arabian wheatear | Oenanthe lugentoides |
| [[File:Oenanthe lugubris 1.jpg | 120px]] | Abyssinian wheatear | Oenanthe lugubris |
| :: |
Behaviour
Wheatears are terrestrial insectivorous birds of open, often dry, country. They often nest in rock crevices or disused burrows. Northern species are long-distance migrants, wintering in Africa.
Fossil record
- Oenanthe kormosi (Late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary)
- Oenanthe pongraczi (Pliocene of Csarnota, Hungary)
References
References
- . ["Muscicapidae"](https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=183). *The Trust for Avian Systematics*.
- (1960). "Check-list of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Vieillot, Louis Pierre. (1883). "Vieillot's Analyse d'une nouvelle ornithologie élémentaire".
- (2010). "Shall we chat? Evolutionary relationships in the genus ''Cercomela'' (Muscicapidae) and its relation to ''Oenanthe'' reveals extensive polyphyly among chats distributed in Africa, India and the Palearctic". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- (2012). "Convergent evolution of morphological and ecological traits in the open-habitat chat complex (Aves, Muscicapidae: Saxicolinae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- (2013). "Taxonomic recommendations for Western Palearctic birds: ninth report". Ibis.
- Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
- "Wheatear". Merriam Webster Online.
- AviList Core Team. (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025".
- Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37–149.
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