Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies
Pied Wheatear
Oenanthe pleschanka
- 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.
Countries
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bulgaria
- Chad
- China
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lebanon
- Maldives
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Nepal
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Poland
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Syria
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- Uzbekistan
- Yemen
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Pied 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.
