Desert wheatear

Description

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,14.5 to 15 cm (5.7 to 5.9 in) in length.Both western and eastern forms of the desert wheatear are rare vagrants to western Europe.The western desert wheatear breeds in the Sahara and the northern Arabian peninsula.The eastern race is found in the semi-deserts of central Asia and in winter in Pakistan and northeast Africa.The plumage of the upper parts of the male in summer is 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 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 partially obscured by the white tips of the feathers.A distinguishing characteristic,in both sexes of all ages,is that the entire tail is black to the level of the upper tail-coverts.The desert wheatear feeds largely on insects which it picks up off the ground.It breeds in the spring when a clutch of usually four pale blue,slightly speckled eggs is laid in a well-concealed nest made of grasses,mosses and stems.The head and nape of the adult male desert wheatear are a pale sandy-grey colour with the feathers tipped grey.The mantle,scapulars and back are a similar but rather richer colour.The rump and upper tail-coverts are pale buff.The basal third of the tail feathers are white and the rest black with a pale buff tip.A curved stripe over the eye is pale buff and extends backwards.The feathers of the chin,throat,lores and ear-coverts are black tipped with white.The breast and flanks are sandy-buff and the belly and under tail-coverts are creamy-white tinged with buff.The axillaries and under wing-coverts are black tipped with white.The primaries have black outer webs,tipped and edged with white and inner webs pale brown edged with white.The secondaries are similar but have broader white edges to both webs.Its length is about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) and it weighs between 15 and 34 grams (0.53 and 1.20 oz).The female has similar plumage but the rump and upper tail-coverts are more sandy brown,the lores,chin and throat pale buff and the dark parts of the tail brownish-black.The juvenile is similar to the adult female but the feathers on the upper parts of the body have pale centres and brown tips which gives the bird a more speckled appearance.There is a single annual moult in late summer and by the following spring the feathers have become rather abraded,with the white tips tending to be worn away,leaving the bird with rather richer colouring.The beak,legs and feet are black and the irises of the eyes dark brown.