Red-tailed Wheatear

Oenanthe chrysopygia

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesRockyCavity nestSmall · 23 g

ID tip

It is 14.5 cm long with a wingspan of 26–27 cm and a weight of about 20-27 g. The plumage is fairly drab, mainly grey-brown above and greyish-white below. It has a faint pale stripe over the eye, a rufous tinge to the ear-coverts and silvery-white underwing-coverts. The rump and bases of the outer tail-feathers are reddish while the rest of the tail is black forming a T-shaped pattern. There is little difference between males and females but the male has black between the eye and bill. The female Kurdistan wheatear can be very similar but usually has white bases to the outer tail-feathers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Red-tailed Wheatear

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 7 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Red-tailed Wheatear

Regular range

The map shades 15 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

About the Red-tailed Wheatear

The red-tailed wheatear, also known as the rusty-tailed wheatear, Persian wheatear or Afghan wheatear, is a small passerine bird breeding in mountainous areas of south-west and central Asia. It belongs to the wheatear genus Oenanthe which was formerly placed in the thrush family Turdidae but is now in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The red-tailed wheatear used to be considered a subspecies of the Kurdish wheatear but is now often regarded as a separate species.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Mourning Wheatear vs Red-tailed Wheatear · Finsch's Wheatear vs Red-tailed Wheatear · Hume's Wheatear vs Red-tailed Wheatear

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