Black-eared Wheatear
195266
226010223
2008-07-16T12:46:12Z
Esene
7485471
</gallery>{{Taxobox
| name = Black-eared Wheatear
| status = LC
| status_ref = <ref>{{IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=51823|title=Oenanthe hispanica|downloaded=12 May 2006}} Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern</ref>
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[Passeriformes]]
| familia = [[Muscicapidae]]
| genus = ''[[Wheatear|Oenanthe]]''
| species = '''''O. hispanica'''''
| binomial = ''Oenanthe hispanica''
| binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758)
}}
The '''Black-eared Wheatear''' (''Oenanthe hispanica'') is a [[wheatear]], a small [[bird migration|migratory]] [[passerine]] [[bird]] that was formerly classed as a member of the [[Thrush (bird)|Thrush]] family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an [[Old World flycatcher]], Muscicapidae.
This 13.5-15.5 cm (5.6 inch) long insectivorous species is dimorphic with eastern and western races. In both forms, birds with or without a black throat are met with.
The breeding male of the western form ''O. h. hispanica'' of the [[Iberian peninsula]] and north [[Africa]] has the forehead and crown white or nearly white, the mantle buff, and the wings blacker than those of the [[Northern Wheatear]]. The underparts are white tinged with buff. The back, upper tail coverts and most of the tail are white. The ear coverts and a line from the bill, and sometimes the throat, are black.
In autumn and winter the head and mantle are distinctly buff, as are the underparts, including the throat, but the buff varies in intensity. Except for the central pair, the tail feathers are much whiter than in the Northern Wheatear, the white on the inner web often extending to the tip.
The female is a browner bird, but has the characteristic lower back, and her seasonal changes are less marked.
The eastern ''O. h. melanoleuca'' is found in the eastern [[Mediterranean]], and migrates to winter quarters in the [[Sudan]].
The male of the eastern form is even whiter in summer than the western bird, but as a rule may be distinguished by the line which extends across the base of the bill. Black-throated individuals of this race have a greater amount of black on the throat and face than on the western birds, and the black generally terminates more abruptly or in a straighter line.
It is a rare vagrant to northwest [[Europe]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=6661 Black-eared Wheatear videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
*[http://www.ibercajalav.net/img/337_BlackearedWheatearOhispanica.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta]
[[Category:Oenanthe]]
[[Category:Birds of Europe]]
[[Category:Birds of Africa]]
[[Category:Birds of Sudan]]
[[Category:Birds of Kuwait]]
[[bg:Испанско каменарче]]
[[ca:Còlit ros]]
[[de:Mittelmeer-Steinschmätzer]]
[[fr:Traquet oreillard]]
[[it:Oenanthe hispanica]]
[[ka:შავამლაყი მეღორღია]]
[[hu:Déli hantmadár]]
[[nl:Blonde tapuit]]
[[no:Middelhavssteinskvett]]
[[pt:Chasco-ruivo]]
[[fi:Rusotasku]]
[[tr:Kara kulaklı kuyrukkakan]]