Wheatear

The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. This is an Old World group, but the Northern Wheatear has established a foothold in eastern Canada and Greenland and in western Canada and Alaska.

Etymology
The name "wheatear" is not derived from "wheat" or any sense of "ear", but is a 16th-century linguistic corruption of "white" and "arse", referring to the prominent white rump found in most species.

Oenanthe is also the name of a plant genus, the  water dropworts, and is derived from the Greek oenos (οίνος) "wine" and anthos (ανθός) "flower". In the case of the plant genus, it refers to the wine-like scent of the flowers. In the case of the wheatear, it refers to the Northern Wheatear's return to Greece in the spring just as the grapevines blossom.

Description
Most species have characteristic black and white or red and white markings on their rumps or their long tails. Most species are strongly sexually dimorphic; only the male has the striking plumage patterns characteristic of the genus, though the females share the white or red rump patches.

Species list
There are 27 wheatear species :
 * Northern Wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe
 * Capped Wheatear, Oenanthe pileata
 * Red-breasted Wheatear, Oenanthe bottae
 * Heuglin's Wheatear, Oenanthe heuglini
 * Isabelline Wheatear, Oenanthe isabellina
 * Hooded Wheatear, Oenanthe monacha
 * Desert Wheatear, Oenanthe deserti
 * Cyprus Wheatear, Oenanthe cypriaca
 * Pied Wheatear, Oenanthe pleschanka
 * Black-eared Wheatear, Oenanthe hispanica
 * Somali Wheatear, Oenanthe phillipsi
 * Brown-tailed Rockchat, Oenanthe scotocerca
 * Sombre Rockchat, Oenanthe dubia
 * Red-rumped Wheatear, Oenanthe moesta
 * Familiar Chat, Oenanthe familiaris
 * Blackstart, Oenanthe melanura
 * Brown Rockchat, Oenanthe fusca
 * Variable Wheatear, Oenanthe picata
 * White-crowned Wheatear, Oenanthe leucopyga
 * Black Wheatear, Oenanthe leucura
 * Hume's Wheatear, Oenanthe albonigra
 * Kurdish Wheatear, Oenanthe xanthoprymna
 * Red-tailed Wheatear, Oenanthe chrysopygia
 * Finsch's Wheatear, Oenanthe finschii
 * Mourning Wheatear, Oenanthe lugens
 * Abyssinian Wheatear, Oenanthe lugubris
 * Arabian Wheatear, Oenanthe lugentoides

Behaviour
Wheatears are terrestrial insectivorous birds of open, often dry, country. They often nest in rock crevices or disused burrows. Northern species are long-distance migrants, wintering in Africa.