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PLATE 102: WHEATEARS IV
Hooded Wheatear Oenanthe monacha pm, wv, rb
L: 17. Large, slender, long-tailed and long-winged wheatear with long bill and buoyant, almost
butterfly-like flight, recalling Spotted Flycatcher when catching prey, sometimes in long sallies.
Sexes differ. Adult male distinctive, with whitish crown, black below extending to centre of
breast and, except for black central tail feathers, nearly all-white tail with just black corners.
Autumn and juvenile males have creamy-buff crown, whitish fringes to black throat, wing-coverts
and mantle, with lower underparts, rump and sides of tail tinged buffish. Female sandy brownish-
grey above, merging into cream-buff rump, tail-coverts and sides of tail, in which central feathers
and tail-corners are dark brown; whitish-grey underparts washed buff at sides of breast, flanks and
undertail-coverts. In autumn female and juvenile, the rump and underparts may appear reddish-buff
with almost reddish-brown sides of tail, but absence of dark terminal tail-band separates from Red-
tailed Wheatears. Voice Song has short melodious phrases, interspersed with some stone-clicking
notes; brief throaty thrush-like warble heard infrequently, relatively simple, lilting and slightly sad.
Female utters a whit-whit or repeated jiirp like a fledgling Eurasian Blackbird; also a wit-awheet-
wheet-wheet or whee-whee-whee-wheeoo. Habitat Desolate, barren rocky ravines, gorges and
deserts. Nests in hole in rock. Note Winter dispersal hatched.White-crowned Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga V
L: 17. Large wheatear with sexes similar; glossy black with black underparts down to legs, and,
in many adults, a white crown; immature and some adults have black crown but size, long bill and
white sides of tail with black corners diagnostic (no black terminal band). Some black-crowned
birds show a few white feather-tips, eventually developing a white crown. In male Hooded Wheatear,
which has similar tail pattern, black below extends only to centre of breast. Voice Variable song
has whistling and tuneful notes, sometimes scratchy, often with imitation of other locally occurring
species; common phrase viet-viet-dreeit-deit, slightly descending but much variation. Call peeh-peeh.
Habitat Rocky deserts, ravines in rocky mountains, usually without vegetation; often around human
settlement. Note Some winter dispersal, rare Kuwait; vagrant Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, UAE.Red-tailed Wheatear Oenanthe chrysopygia WV, PM
L: 15. Sexes alike; upperparts drab greyish, especially head, face pattern rather bland (like
autumn flava wagtail), rump and sides of tail orangey-rufous (rump sometimes paler); tip of tail
fringed rufous when fresh; underwing coverts pale/off-white (dusky-grey in Kurdish Wheatear),
vent and flanks rufous-orange (paler orange to buff or whitish in female Kurdish Wheatear). Long
slim bill; silhouette can recall Blue Rock Thrush. Voice Warbling song loud with adept mimicry.
Undemonstrative and ordinarily silent in winter; occasionally giving grating alarm. Habitat Stony
or barren hillsides, low scrubby vegetation. In winter cultivation, ruins, rubble and dumps in sand
desert. Note Passage and winter hatched.Kurdish Wheatear Oenanthe xanthoprymna V
L: 15. Male distinctive, with whitish supercilium, black throat, sides of head and neck merging
with blackish-brown wing-coverts, rufous rump, with white sides to tail-base in adults (rufous
in immatures); black band at tip of tail narrow; little white in wings. Female confusable with Red-
tailed Wheatear (which see), though sometimes shows dark throat. Usually solitary; has bounding
hops and slight downward tail-flicks; often flies with tail closed. Voice Brief song a slow throaty
warble. Calls include steu-steu-steu; alarm note a short dry zuk or zvee-tuk. Habitat Favours rocky
outcrops. In winter, hillsides, cultivation, ruins. Note Winter hatched, but distribution poorly known;
vagrant Oman, UAE. [Alt: Kurdistan Wheatear, Rufous-tailed Wheatear]