Black Wheatears
Wheatears
The Black Wheatear, Oenanthe leucura, 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.
Desciption
This large 16-18 cm long wheatear breeds on cliffs and rocky slopes in western north Africa and Iberia. It is largely resident and nests in crevices in rocks laying 3-6 eggs.
The male of this species is all black except a white rump and mainly white tail.
The female is similar, but dark brown rather than black.
Similar Species: The similar White-crowned Wheatear, Oenanthe leucopyga, also breeds in the African part of the Black Wheatear's range, but the Black Wheatear has a black inverted "T" on its white tail, whereas White-crowned has only a black centre to its tail. The Black Wheatear never has a white crown, but young White-crowned Wheatears also lack this feature.
Diet / Feeding
The food of this wheatear is mainly insects.
Song / Vocalization
It has a loud thrush-like song.
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org
Photo, Video and/or Article contributions are welcome! Please click here for info
The Avianweb strives to maintain accurate and up-to-date information; however, mistakes do happen. If you would like to correct or update any of the information, please send us an e-mail. THANK YOU!
