Page 303 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

CHATS AND THRUSHES
Order Passeriformes Family Turdidae Species Oenanthe hispanica
Black-eared Wheatear

mostly white black face
tail with black bold black and throat
centre and eye patch
sides
MALE (SPRING;
PALE-THROATED)
blackish
MALE (SPRING; wings
white, buff, BLACK-THROATED)
or orange-
buff back
IN FLIGHT buff-brown
or yellow-
orange body
ginger bright
breast pale buff
underside
whitish
belly
black sides
IMMATURE of tail
(AUTUMN) FEMALE
FLIGHT: quick, light, direct, long tail allows good
MALE (SPRING;
manoeuvrability; often swoops up to raised perch.
BLACK-THROATED)
limmer, lighter, and less solid than a Wheatear, the Black-eared Wheatear
Soccurs in two forms – black-throated and pale-throated – and requires
careful identification in plumages other than the spring male’s, which is
bold and striking. It combines some of the actions
of the smaller chats with the typical behaviour of SLENDER FORM
ground-feeding wheatears.This southern European This is a slim, elegant wheatear,
wheatear is common on warm,stony Mediterranean often perching on bushes, using
its tail to maintain its balance.
slopes,readily perching on low bushes and tall stems.
VOICE Wheezy tssch, hard tack; song fast, rattling
warble, quite bright and explosive, sometimes
with mimicry.
NESTING Grassy cup in hole, under boulders
or stones, or at base of bush; 4 or 5 eggs;
1 or 2 broods;April–June.
FEEDING Watches from bush top or stone, drops
to ground, or chases after insects; eats some
small seeds.
OCCURRENCE
REMARK Subspecies
SIMILAR SPECIES Very locally in Spain, Portugal,
O.h.hispanica (SW Europe) and Mediterranean countries,
has less black on face and smaller and in variety of open, often barren
much stockier
throat and yellower back; broader places with scattered bushes,
O. h. melanoleuca (S Italy, black tail rocks, and high stony pastures,
band white only
Balkans) has more black on rump from March to October. Only
on face, whiter back, and rare vagrant farther north in spring
or autumn.
longer wingtips. Both
have black- and pale- WHEATEAR 32; STONECHAT 32; Seen in the UK
see p.300 see p.304
throated forms. JF M A M J JA S ON D
Length 13.5–15cm (5 1 ⁄4 –6in) Wingspan 25–30cm (10–12in) Weight 15–25g ( 9 ⁄16 – 7 ⁄8oz)
Social Family groups Lifespan Up to 5 years Status Vulnerable
301