Pied Wheatear
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies

Pied Wheatear

Oenanthe pleschanka

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

Overview

The pied wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) is a wheatear, a small insectivorous 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 (family Muscicapidae). This migratory central Asiatic wheatear occurs from the extreme southeast of Europe to China, and has been found wintering in India and northeastern Africa. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The male is a boldly marked white-and-black bird.

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

Range and habitat

Breeds stony south-central Eurasia; winters to Arabia, Iran, and northeastern Africa.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.