Isabelline Wheatear

How to identify

Field marks

1. Upperparts pale sandy-brown
2. Rump and uppertail-coverts white
3. Tail feathers brownish-black, with a large white area at the base
4. Supercilium creamy white

Male, female and young

Sexes similar.

Voice

Short chirps with occasional loud whistles; song resembles that of Eurasian Skylark and mimics other birds.

Similar species

Northern Wheatear

Larger, more upright and more yellowish-brown than female Northern Wheatear, with more black on the tail and a longer bill.

Where and when it's recorded

Isabelline Wheatear has been recorded at 539 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 68 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Wamm FarmsUnited Arab Emirates1,328 records
2. Dubai Pivot FieldsUnited Arab Emirates967 records
3. Abu Dhabi Golf and Equestrian ClubUnited Arab Emirates653 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United Arab EmiratesKenyaIsraelTürkiyeMongoliaKuwaitIndiaEthiopia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) 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 in the family Muscicapidae. It is a migratory insectivorous bird. Its habitat is steppe and open countryside and it breeds in southern Russia and Central Asia to northern Pakistan, wintering in Africa and northwestern India.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions