Short Description
The wheatear is a small bird with pale underparts and a striking white rump (upper part of the lower back).
In its nuptial plumage, the male wheatear has a dark-grey back and black wings. Another striking feature is its black eye stripe. In the basic plumage, the back of the male is more brown in colour and the mask less marked. It looks more similar to the female then.
The female has light-brown upper parts and dark-brown wings.
Features
Wheatear
Oenanthe oenanthe
white tail with a black T-pattern
Gesang
Wallschläger, CC BY-SA 3.0
In the city
Wheatears can be found in open spaces such as military training ranges, construction sites, industrial areas and railway lines. They like to perch in elevated positions on stones, mounds of earth or walls.
Fun Facts
heatears are threatened with extinction in Germany. The drop in its population number is directly linked to human activity, such as loss of habitats in the wake of building projects.
Wheatears are migratory birds; in the middle of September, they fly to tropical Africa via southwestern Europe. They return to Germany in March.
- Endangerment level Germany: threatened with extinction
Sources
Männchen, Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steinschmaetzer_Northern_wheatear_male.jpg
Weibchen, Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_wheatear_Oenanthe_oenanthe.jpg
Weibchen, Mark Medcalf, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oenanthe_oenanthe_-Maidens,_South_Ayrshire,_Scotland_-female-8.jpg
Bejcek, V. (1988) Zugvögel, Hanau/Main: Verlag Werner Dausien.
Page „Steinschmätzer (Art)“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 15.02.2016, 05:27 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steinschm%C3%A4tzer_(Art)&oldid=151518063 (Accessed: 17.02.2016).
Witt, K. & Steiof, K. (2013) Rote Liste und Liste der Brutvögel von Berlin, 3. version, 15.11.2013. : Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V. (eds.) Berliner Ornithologischer Bericht, volume 23, Berlin: Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V., 1-23.
Artenfinder (2016) Oenanthe oenanthe (Steinschmätzer), URL: https://arteninfo.net/elearning/voegel/speciesportrait/3100 (Accessed: 24.04.2016).
Landesamt für Umwelt Rheinland-Pfalz (n.d.) Steckbrief zur Art A277 der Vogelschutz-Richtlinie - Steinschmätzer (Oenanthe oenanthe), URL: http://www.natura2000.rlp.de/steckbriefe/index.php?a=s&b=a&c=vsg&pk=V028 (Accessed: 02.05.2017).