Black Wheatear vs Blackstart

Black Wheatear

Oenanthe leucura

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This large 16–18 cm long wheatear. The male of this species is all black except a white rump and mainly white tail. The female is similar, but dark brown rather than black. It has a loud thrush-like song. The similar white-crowned wheatear (Oenanthe leucopyga) also breeds in the African part of the black wheatear's range, but the black wheatear has a black inverted "T" on its white tail, whereas white-crowned has only a black centre to its tail. The black wheatear never has a white crown, but young white-crowned wheatears also lack this feature.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Martien Brand from Mariënberg, The Netherlands · CC BY 2.0

Blackstart

Oenanthe melanura

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The blackstart is around 14 cm (5.5 in) in length with a wingspan of 23–27 cm (9.1–10.6 in) and a weight of around 15 g (0.53 oz). The nominate race O. m. melanura has blueish ash-grey upperparts with darker wings and a black rump and tail. The belly and under-wings are greyish white; the bill and legs are black. The sexes are similar. The North African subspecies O. m. lypura and O. m. airensis are browner than the nominate.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Julien Renoult · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black Wheatear and Blackstart.