Desert Wheatear
Photo: Shantanu Kuveskar · CC BY-SA 4.0

Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies

Desert Wheatear

Oenanthe deserti

LCLeast Concern
Family
Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies (Muscicapidae)
Order
Passeriformes

Overview

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.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.