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Northern Wheatear

Oenanthe oenantheOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Thrushes (Turdidae)
Northern Wheatear (oenanthe) Breeding Male Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: All-purpose
  • Eye Color: Dark brown in all ages.
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Plain, Special (unique patterns or features)
  • Crown Color: Gray
  • Forehead Color: Gray with white eyebrow and black mask.
  • Nape Color: Gray
  • Throat Color: BUFF
  • Cere color: No Data
Northern Wheatear (oenanthe) Breeding Male Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 14-15 cm (5.5-6 in)
  • Weight: 14 g (0.5 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: White, Black, Gray
  • Underparts: White with buff breast.
  • Upperparts: Gray
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Northern Wheatear (oenanthe) Breeding Male Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Relatively slow direct flight with shallow wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 27-28 cm (10.5-11 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Pointed Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: White
  • Under Tail: White
  • Leg Color: Gray-black
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Family Thrush (Turdidae)_blue
Species Oenanthe oenanthe
Length5.5 - 6 Inches
Wingspan10.75 Inches

Northern Wheatear

Northern Wheatear: Small thrush (oenanthe), with gray upperparts, black wings, mask, and tail. Underparts are white, and buff-brown wash on throat. Dark gray back and nape. Very active bird, nervous and restless while foraging. Bobs tail and often makes short flights to hawk insects.

● Song: "chack-chack", "hweet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Northern Wheatear: Eats insects, fruits, seeds, small bulbs, centipedes, and snails. Forages mostly on the ground, running short distances and then stopping to pick up items; runs and flutters in pursuit of fleeing insects; also watches from a low perch, flying down to take prey on the ground. Sometimes flies out to catch insects in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Northern Wheatear: Three to eight pale blue eggs, with red brown flecks, are laid in a nest made of grass, roots and moss, lined with finer materials, and built in a rock crevice, wood pile, on the ground, or on a cliff ridge. Eggs are incubated for 14 days mostly by the female.

● Similar species: Northern Wheatear: Brown Shrike is smaller and has shorter bill.

Flight Pattern

Relatively slow direct flight with shallow wing beats.
Northern Wheatear (oenanthe) Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Northern Wheatear: Breeds in Alaska and parts of northern Canada; also Eurasia. Eastern Canada birds migrate east through Greenland and Europe, and winter in Africa. Alaska and northwestern Canada birds cross the Bering Strait and make a long westward flight across Asia, also wintering mostly in Africa. Found in grasslands, rocky tundra, and barren slopes.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationFairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.5 Ounces