The wheatears are

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Oenanthe''. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family,

Muscicapidae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Northe ...

. This is an Old World group, but the

northern wheatear The northern wheatear or wheatear (''Oenanthe oenanthe'') is 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 th ...

has established a foothold in eastern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and in western Canada and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

Etymology

The name "wheatear" is not derived from "

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

" or any sense of "

ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

", but is a folk etymology of "white" and "

arse Arse or ARSE may refer to: * A Commonwealth English slang term for the buttocks * Arse, the name for the Iberian settlement of modern-day Sagunto * Arse (district), a district in the South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra province, Sumatra, Indone ...

", referring to the prominent white rump found in most species. The genus name ''Oenanthe'' is derived from the Greek ''oenos'' (οἶνος) "wine" and ''anthos'' (ἄνθος) "flower". It refers to the northern wheatear's return to Greece in the spring just as the

grapevines ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, ...

blossom.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Oenanthe'' was introduced by the French ornithologist

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collec ...

in 1816 with ''Oenanthe leucura'', the

black wheatear 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 of the Muscicapidae. This ...

, as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

. The genus formerly included fewer species but molecular phylogenetic studies of birds in the Old World flycatcher family

found that the genus ''Cercomela'' was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

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 Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collect ...

, 1816) has taxonomic priority over ''Cercomela'' ( Bonaparte, 1856) making ''Cercomela'' a junior synonym. Nonetheless, ''Cercomela'' is considered a valid genus on the Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, managed by the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology.Clements Checklist of Birds of the World http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/

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 Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

; 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 32 species: *

Northern wheatear The northern wheatear or wheatear (''Oenanthe oenanthe'') is 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 th ...

, ''Oenanthe oenanthe'' *

Atlas wheatear The Atlas wheatear (''Oenanthe seebohmi''), also known as the black-throated wheatear or Seebohm's wheatear, is a small passerine bird which breeds in the Maghreb region of North Africa and winters in the western Sahel. It was formerly considere ...

, ''Oenanthe seebohmi'' *

Capped wheatear The capped wheatear (''Oenanthe pileata'') is a small insectivorous 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. Descriptio ...

, ''Oenanthe pileata'' *

Red-breasted wheatear The red-breasted wheatear (''Oenanthe bottae'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is also known as Botta's wheatear or buff-breasted wheatear. Heuglin's wheatear (''O. heuglini'') was formerly included in this species but is now ...

, ''Oenanthe bottae'' * Heuglin's wheatear, ''Oenanthe heuglinii'' * Isabelline wheatear, ''Oenanthe isabellina'' * Hooded wheatear, ''Oenanthe monacha'' * Desert wheatear, ''Oenanthe deserti'' * Western black-eared wheatear, ''Oenanthe hispanica'' * Eastern black-eared wheatear, ''Oenanthe melanoleuca'' * Cyprus wheatear, ''Oenanthe cypriaca'' *

Pied wheatear The pied wheatear (''Oenanthe pleschanka'') is a wheatear, a small insectivorous 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 (family Musci ...

, ''Oenanthe pleschanka'' * White-fronted black chat, ''Oenanthe albifrons'' (formerly in either ''Pentholaea'' or ''

Myrmecocichla ''Myrmecocichla'' is a genus of passerine birds in the Old World chat and flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The genus contains the following species: * Sooty chat (''Myrmecocichla nigra'') * Anteater chat (''Myrmecocichla aethiops'') * Congo m ...

'') * Somali wheatear, ''Oenanthe phillipsi'' * Red-rumped wheatear, ''Oenanthe moesta'' *

Blackstart __NOTOC__ The blackstart (''Oenanthe melanura'') is a chat found in desert regions in North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. It is resident throughout its range. The blackstart is 14 cm long and is named for its black ...

, ''Oenanthe melanura'' (formerly in ''Cercomela'') *

Familiar chat The familiar chat (''Oenanthe familiaris'') is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is a common resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara in rocky and mountainous habitat and around human habitation. T ...

, ''Oenanthe familiaris'' (formerly in ''Cercomela'') * Brown-tailed rock chat, ''Oenanthe scotocerca'' (formerly in ''Cercomela'') * Sombre rock chat, ''Oenanthe dubia'' (formerly in ''Cercomela'') * Brown rock chat, ''Oenanthe fusca'' (formerly in ''Cercomela'') * Variable wheatear, ''Oenanthe picata'' *

Black wheatear 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 of the Muscicapidae. This ...

, ''Oenanthe leucura'' (

) * Abyssinian wheatear, ''Oenanthe lugubris'' *

White-crowned wheatear The white-crowned wheatear, or white-crowned black wheatear (''Oenanthe leucopyga'') 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 Wor ...

, ''Oenanthe leucopyga'' * Hume's wheatear, ''Oenanthe alboniger'' * Finsch's wheatear, ''Oenanthe finschii'' * Maghreb wheatear, ''Oenanthe halophila'' * Mourning wheatear, ''Oenanthe lugens'' * Basalt wheatear, ''Oenanthe warriae'' * Arabian wheatear, ''Oenanthe lugentoides'' * Kurdish wheatear, ''Oenanthe xanthoprymna'' * Red-tailed wheatear, ''Oenanthe chrysopygia''

Behaviour

Wheatears are terrestrial insectivorous

s of open, often dry, country. They often nest in rock crevices or disused burrows. Northern species are long-distance migrants, wintering in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Fossil record

*''Oenanthe kormosi'' (Late Miocenee of Polgardi, Hungary) Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37–149. *''Oenanthe pongraczi'' (Plioceme of Csarnota, Hungary)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28915 Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot