Cyprus Wheatear
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Gaius Cornelius
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{{Taxobox
| name = Cyprus Wheatear
| status = LC
| status_ref =<ref>{{IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=51825|title=Oenanthe cypriaca|downloaded=5 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. cypriaca'''''
| binomial = ''Oenanthe cypriaca''
| binomial_authority = ([[Eugen Ferdinand von Homeyer|Homeyer]], 1884)
}}
The '''Cyprus Wheatear''' or '''Cyprus Pied Wheatear''' ('' Oenanthe cypriaca'') is a small, 14-15 cm long [[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. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of Pied Wheatear but Sluys and van den Berg (1982)<ref>Ronald Sluys, Martin van den Berg (1982 )On the Specific Status of the Cyprus Pied Wheatear ''Oenanthe cypriaca'' [[Ornis Scandinavica]], Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 123-128</ref> argued that the form deserved full species status, on the basis of differences in biometrics and especially song, and the lack of sexual plumage dimorphism in ''cypriaca''.
This [[bird migration|migratory]] insectivorous species was formerly considered a race of [[Pied Wheatear]]. It breeds only in [[Cyprus]], and winters in southern [[Sudan]] and [[Ethiopia]].
This species closely resembles Pied Wheatear, although it has slightly more black on the tail and back. The sexes are similar in appearance, a fact first documented by Christensen (1974).<ref>Christensen, Steen (1974) Notes on the plumage of female Cyprus Pied Wheatear Ornis. Scand. 5:47-52</ref>
The song is distinctive, and very different from that of Pied Wheatear. It consists of a series of high-pitched buzzing bursts.<ref>Bergman, H. H. (1983) Some peculiarities of Cyprus bird voices. ''Cyprus Ornithological Society (1969) Bird Report 8:41-54</ref>
The song-perches utilised by this species are high for a wheatear, typically being 5 to 10 metres above ground. It often breeds in woodland habitats, unlike other wheatears (Oliver 1990<ref>Oliver, P. J. (1990) Observations on the Cyprus Pied Wheatear [[Sandgrouse (journal)|Sandgrouse]] 12:25-30</ref> suggested that it occupies the ecological niche used elsewhere in the [[Western Palearctic]] by the [[Common Redstart]]).
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
===Identification===
* Small, Brian J. (1994) Separation of Pied Wheatear and Cyprus Pied Wheatear. [[Dutch Birding]] 16: 177–185
* Flint, Peter (1995) Separation of Cyprus Pied Wheatear from Pied Wheatear [[British Birds (magazine)|British Birds]] 88: 230–241
[[Category:Oenanthe]]
[[Category:Western Palearctic restricted-range endemic bird species]]
{{cyprus-stub}}
{{Muscicapidae-stub}}
[[fr:Traquet de Chypre]]
[[hu:Ciprusi hantmadár]]