Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) - HBW 10, p. 803
French: Traquet du désert
Spanish: Collalba Desértica
Taxonomy: Saxicola deserti Temminck, 1825, Egypt.
Several races in C of range sometimes discriminated (salina and atrogularis) but distinctions very slight, and better treated as synonyms of nominate. Boundaries of races not well established; details listed below provisional. Three subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- homochroa (Tristram, 1859) - N Africa (including once Mauritania) E to NW Egypt; non-breeding Sahara and N Sahel (Mauritania E to Chad).
- deserti (Temminck, 1825) - NE Egypt and Levant E, discontinuously, to Azerbaijan (probably Armenia), S Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Mongolia; non-breeding NE Africa (including Socotra I) and SW Asia.
- oreophila (Oberholser, 1900) - Kashmir E to Nepal, Pamir, Tibetan Plateau and W China (S Xinjiang); non-breeding Arabia, SW Asia and NW & C India.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
VideosSee all 30 videos
A male changing places and then a female flying to catch a prey Locality Missour, Fès-Boulemane Region, Morocco (ssp homochroa)
Josep del Hoyo 3 April 2007 5 years ago 43 sec 4.9
A pair bringing material to the nest Locality Missour, Fès-Boulemane Region, Morocco (ssp homochroa)
Josep del Hoyo 3 April 2007 5 years ago 37 sec 4.8
A recently fledged juvenile near the nest Locality Tata, Guelmim-Es Semara Region, Morocco (ssp homochroa)
Josep del Hoyo 17 May 2006 6 years ago 30 sec 4.6
A male singing Locality Missour, Fès-Boulemane Region, Morocco (ssp homochroa)
Josep del Hoyo 3 April 2007 5 years ago 30 sec 4.5
A first winter male showing its back. Locality Pier of IJmuiden, Netherlands
Pieter de Groot Boersma 30 September 2005 6 years ago 24 sec 4.4
Perched on a bush Locality Guelmim-Es Semara Region, Morocco
Pascal Vagner 30 March 2012 33 weeks ago 15 sec 4
PhotosSee all 31 photos
A male perched on a branch.
Locality Khor Sawli, Dhofar Governorate, Oman (ssp deserti)
Hanne and Jens Eriksen 40 weeks ago 4.6
on a bush, at km 103 on Highway 90.
Locality Arava Valley, Israel
Lior Kislev 18 March 2009 1 year ago 4.5
Adult on a branch
Locality Morocco (ssp homochroa)
Alain Fossé 14 March 2004 3 years ago 4.3
Adult winter, very rare in the Neds!
Locality Pier of IJmuiden, Netherlands
Paul Cools 1 January 2005 28 weeks ago 4.2
Male standing on a rock
Locality Arakhiya Farm, Al Rayyan, Qatar
John A Thompson 18 December 2008 2 years ago 4.2
Perching on a rock among salicornia
Marco Valentini 5 March 2008 1 year ago 4.1