Wildlifeof Nepal
Variable Wheatear
Thrushes, Chats & Flycatchers
Photo: (c) Paulmathi Vinod, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY
Oenanthe picata
Basic stats
Habitat
In winter, stony semi-desert and desert with sparsely scrubbed dunes, cultivation, ravines, village outskirts and cattle corrals, from near sea level to about 1,200m
The variable wheatear is a bird of the flycatcher family whose natural habitat is hot deserts. It is polymorphic: the black-bellied phase (opistholeuca) is entirely jet black except the rump, undertail coverts and the base and sides of the tail, which are white, while the white-bellied phase (picata) is like it but has a white belly, and there is also a white-crowned phase (capistrata). Females have the black parts replaced by sooty black (Wikipedia, general species account).
It breeds in north-east and south-east Iran and Turkmenistan east to the western Tien Shan, the Pamirs and northern and western Pakistan, arriving in March (Baluchistan) or mid April (Chitral) and remaining till September (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What habitat does the Variable Wheatear live in?
- In winter, stony semi-desert and desert with sparsely scrubbed dunes, cultivation, ravines, village outskirts and cattle corrals, from near sea level to about 1,200m