This article is incomplete. This article is missing one or more sections. You can help the BirdForum Opus by expanding it. |
- Oenanthe lugens
Includes Western Mourning Wheatear = Maghreb Wheatear
Identification
Male: Black throat and sides of head connects with black in wings and on mantle. Underside and uppersides mostly pale, buffy; undertail coverts darker buff than belly. Tail with dark central feathers and dark terminal band on rest of tail is equal width.
Female: like male in most subspecies, but typically much less strongly marked in subspecies halophila.
Variation
A black morph (Basalt Wheatear) exists in southern Syria and Jordan which only shows white on undertail coverts, tail, possibly rearmost uppertail coverts.
Similar species
Pied Wheatear, Finsch's Wheatear.
Distribution
Africa and Middle East
Taxonomy
Three subspecies recognized:
- O. l. lugens from Egypt to Israel, Syria, Jordan and Iraq
- O. l. persica from S Iran
- O. l. halophila from Morocco to Libya and NW Egypt
O. l. halophila is sometimes split as Western Mourning Wheatear = Maghreb Wheatear. A recent study proposes splitting of O. l. persica.
Abyssinian Wheatear was considered conspecific with this species.
Basalt Wheatear is usually seen as a morph of subspecies O. l. lugens, but may deserve status as at least a subspecies
Habitat
Flat to very steep terrain mostly with boulders and with limited vegetation.
Behaviour
References
- Birdforum thread discussing Mourning Wheatear