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| Desert Wheatear | ||||||||||||||
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| Oenanthe deserti ( Temminck, 1829) |
The Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) 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.
It is a migratory insectivorous species. Both western and eastern forms of the Desert Wheatear are rare vagrants to western Europe.
Although males in summer of its subspecies are more or less distinct, the autumn, female and juvenile plumages are confusing.
The western Desert Wheatear breeds in the Sahara and north ArabiaArabia is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia. It lies north of Ethiopia and northern Somalia; south of Israel, the disputed Palestinian territories, and Jordan; and southwest of Iran. The coastal limits of Arabia comprise: on. The eastern race is found in the semi-deserts of central AsiaThe continent of Asia is defined by subtracting Europe and Africa from the great land mass of Africa-Eurasia. The boundaries are vague, especially between Asia and Europe: Asia and Africa meet somewhere near the Suez Canal. The boundary between Asia and E and in winter in IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy. and northeast AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar.
The upper parts of the male in summer are buff. The underparts are white with a buff tinge on the breast. The black on the face and throat extends to the shoulders, and there is distinct white superciliary stripe.
The best character, in both sexes at all ages, is that the entire tail is black to the level of the uppertail coverts. The female is greyer above and buffer below and has no black on the throat, and in the winter plumage the black on the throat of the male is obscured by white tips.
Length, 5.6 inches. Wing, 3.6 inches.