Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies
Kurdish Wheatear
Oenanthe xanthoprymna
- Family
- Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies (Muscicapidae)
- Order
- Passeriformes
Overview
The Kurdish wheatear (Oenanthe xanthoprymna), also known as the Kurdistan wheatear, the chestnut-rumped wheatear or the red-rumped wheatear, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. The red-tailed wheatear (O. chrysopygia) was formerly considered a subspecies of this bird but is now often regarded as a separate species. The two may intergrade in Iran ("O. x. cummingi") but it is also possible that the rather differently coloured cummingi is in fact a one-year-old O. xanthoprymna with intermediate plumage.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds in southeastern Türkiye, far northeastern Iraq, and western Iran; winters in eastern Egypt (in the Nile Valley and near the Red Sea), northeastern Sudan, and on the western Arabian Peninsula, locally also in southern Israel.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Kurdish 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.