Variable Wheatear
Oenanthe picata
东方斑䳭
Introduction
A member of the family Muscicapidae. Found across Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan. Inhabits hot deserts and arid to semi-arid regions. Exhibits extreme polymorphism with three distinct color morphs. Locally abundant in barren rocky areas, sand dunes with scrub vegetation, cultivation, ravines, and outskirts of villages and nomadic encampments.
Description
A small passerine of arid regions. Three distinct morphs exist. Black-bellied morph: males entirely jet black except white rump, under tail-coverts, and base and sides of tail; central rectrices and terminal tail band black; females have black replaced by sooty black. White-bellied morph: males like black-bellied but with white belly; females show grayish-brown where males are black, with buffish belly. White-crowned morph: males like white-bellied with white belly and black throat, but crown and nape white; females have earthy brown crown and black parts, with buffish belly.
Distribution & Habitat
Breeds in northeast and southeast Iran and Turkmenistan, east to western Tien Shan, Pamirs, and northern and western Pakistan. Winters in southwest Asia, commonly in Pakistan and northwestern India southeast to Delhi, central Madhya Pradesh, and northern Maharashtra. Arrives on breeding grounds in March in Baluchistan or mid-April in Chitral; departs by September. Wintering from early August through end of March. Inhabits stony semi-desert, sparsely scrubbed sand dunes, cultivation, ravines, and village outskirts from sea level to 1200 meters; recorded at 2700 meters during deep snow.
Behavior & Ecology
Inhabits barren rocky areas, sand dunes with scrub vegetation, cultivation, ravines, outside villages, and nomadic encampments. The three female color phases do not exactly correspond geographically to male phases, but show some separation on wintering grounds.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Oenanthe
- eBird Code
- varwhe1
Distribution
breeds eastern Iran eastward to western Tien Shan, Pamirs, northern and western Pakistan, and Kashmir; winters to southeastern Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Asia
Data Sources
Species description from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Taxonomy data from AviList 2025.