Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies
Red-tailed Wheatear
Oenanthe chrysopygia
- Family
- Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies (Muscicapidae)
- Order
- Passeriformes
Overview
The red-tailed wheatear (Oenanthe chrysopygia), also known as the rusty-tailed wheatear, Persian wheatear or Afghan wheatear, is a small passerine bird breeding in mountainous areas of south-west and central Asia. It belongs to the wheatear genus Oenanthe which was formerly placed in the thrush family Turdidae but is now in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The red-tailed wheatear used to be considered a subspecies of the Kurdish wheatear (O. xanthoprymna) but is now often regarded as a separate species.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds from northeastern Türkiye, southern Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran eastward to southern Turkmenistan, southern Tajikistan (Pamir range), Afghanistan, and far northwestern Pakistan; winters from the southern Arabian Peninsula and southern Iraq eastward to Pakistan and northwestern India.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Red-tailed wheatear
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
