Decoding the Wheatears of India

Species Published : Feb 27, 2023 Updated : Dec 12, 2023

Protected areas like the Desert National Park in Rajasthan host seven of the nine species of these birds found in India

It was a beautiful sunrise on Gujarat’s Veraval coast on a cold winter morning, and we were ambling along a sandy beach, hoping to catch a glimpse of marine life and pelagic (aquatic) birds. A buff-coloured bird flew past us and settled on a concrete bench. Now, what were the chances of spotting a desert wheatear along the seafront promenade?

Upon seeing a wheatear for the first time, the bird may come across as a mix between the more “urban” oriental magpie-robin and a bush chat. In fact, wheatears are related to robins, chats, and even flycatchers. Wheatears are small birds belonging to the family of old-world flycatchers and range from 14-17 cm in size. They are mostly terrestrial, preferring sparsely vegetated, open terrain with stony outcrops, and have an apparent fondness for harsh environments like deserts. These birds are insectivores and are often seen perched openly, scanning their surroundings for food. They also use their habitat effectively to breed in crevices and holes near the ground. Interestingly, some wheatears are long-distance migrant birds that cross great distances, mostly over land and mountains.

Like all wheatears, the isabelline wheatear is also insectivorous and thrives in dry scrubland habitats, which can be bountiful with insects like locusts. Video: Vipul Ramanuj
Cover Photo: Drenched in golden light, a desert wheatear scans the horizon from a thorny shrub at Desert National Park, Rajasthan. Cover Photo: Vipul Ramanuj

Of the 31 species of the Oenanthe genus of wheatears globally, most of them occurring in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, nine species (some rare, others common) have been recorded in India. These include the northern, Hume’s, Finsch’s, red-tailed or Persian, pied, variable, isabelline, and desert wheatears and the brown rock chat (which is also a wheatear!). The brown rock chat, pied wheatear and a subspecies of the desert wheatear are resident species that breed in the India subcontinent. The former is widespread in the northern part of the subcontinent, and the latter two are restricted to the arid northwestern Himalayas. The other wheatears only spend the winter or pass by India.

It is worth noting that most of the wheatears flaunt a whitish or pale rump, and the name “wheatears” used today is likely the result of a linguistic corruption of the more archaic “white arse”.

(1) Brown rock chats perch fearlessly on rocky cliffs and crags, edges of ravines, and stony hilltops, but are just as easily seen in gardens and urban spaces. (2) The red-tailed wheatear has a characteristic rufous orange lower back and rump, and rufous sides of the tail. Its Latin name chrysopygia translates to “gold-rumped”. Photos: Sivaramakrishnan Sivasubramanian (1), Surya Ramachandran (2)

Identifying wheatears: tricky business

Deciphering and telling species of wheatears apart is like solving a cryptic puzzle, thanks to their confusingly similar plumage. But careful inspection and experience helps. In many of the wheatears found in India, sexual dimorphism is striking; males sport contrasting black-and-white plumage, and females show more uniform brown or grey hues. Generally, these wheatears have a white rump and a distinctly patterned pied tail that becomes visible when they fly and land and can be a marker for separating and identifying particular species.

The vocal repertoire of wheatears is varied and consists of a mixed bag of whistles, trills and harsh punctuations. Interestingly, many species are good mimics of bird and animal sounds. There is variation among species, and experts caution against trying to identify them by calls alone. Moreover, you seldom hear wheatears vocalising in their Indian wintering grounds.

The variable wheatear comes in three distinct morphs (all sighted at DNP). The (1) all-black form (Oenanthe picata opistholeuca), where the adult male is black except for the rump region, base and sides of the tail, and the under-tail coverts. (2) The white-crowned form (Oenanthe picata capistrata), where the adult male has a white belly and black throat, but the crown and nape are both white. (3) The white-belly form (Oenanthe picata) is similar to the all-black form but has white underparts. (4) Females of these morphs possess somewhat similar contrasts in plumage as the males of the respective morph, but the colours are dull greys and browns, making it difficult to tell them apart. Photos: Vipul Ramanuj (1, 2, 3), Neel Sureja (4)

Protected areas like the Desert National Park (DNP) in Rajasthan host seven species of wheatears. Five are spotted relatively easily (variable, isabelline, desert, brown rock chat, and red-tailed or Persian wheatears), though the red-tailed is most sparsely distributed. The rufous tinge on DNP’s many rocks and stones provide these birds camouflage as they forage for small insects.

Two uncommon wheatears at DNP are the pied wheatear and Finsch’s wheatear (a lesser-known species recently recorded here for the first time in India). Variable and isabelline wheatears are also fairly common across parts of northern and western India. There are some exciting morphs of the variable wheatear species.

It must be noted that the male of the picata morph very closely resembles the rarer Hume’s wheatear, and the male of the capistrata morph closely resembles the rarer pied and Finsch’s from certain angles. When Hume’s wheatears are spotted in DNP, it’s good to revisit photographs of variable wheatears, to compare and confirm whether you have stumbled upon the rarer Hume’s or the picata.

(1) Common to the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East, Finsch’s wheatear is a rarity for India, with some recent records in the northwestern part of the country. (2) The northern wheatear is the most widespread species of the Oenanthe genus in the northern hemisphere. Photos: Selim Kaya/Getty Images (1), Arnstein Rønning, CC BY-SA 4.0 (2)

Isabelline wheatear

The isabelline wheatear is an elegant, sandy or “isabelline” coloured wheatear, with males and females that look alike. A cursory look at this perched bird may be confusing due to its likeness to a female desert wheatear or red-tailed wheatear. But the dark distinguishing “lores” (space between eye and bill) and the pied, inverted “T” tail pattern in flight give it away. Often, from a distance, the silhouette of this relatively common wheatear has tricked us into thinking we have found a Stoliczka’s bushchat (another prized bird seen in similar habitats).

Northern wheatears

Although widespread across the world, the more handsome northern wheatears are considered vagrants (outside their normal range) in India. Observations over the last decade indicate that this bird is a rare but regular migrant and possibly even a resident breeder in the northwestern Indian Himalayas. The smart adult male bird with its striking grey-black plumage, black eyepatch, white supercilium and prominent pied inverted “T” patterning on the tail could easily remind us of the plumage characteristics of another, very different commoner — the southern grey shrike.

(1) Occasionally, the pied wheatear has been recorded in the country’s southern reaches, like this specimen from Mangalore, Karnataka. (2) The elusive vittata morph of the pied wheatear from Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. Photos: Gopala Krishna A, CC BY-SA 4.0 (1), Sivaramakrishnan Sivasubramanian (2)

Pied wheatear

The pied wheatear is common in the drier, more arid reaches of the Indian Himalayas. The trans-Himalayan terrain seems perfect for this bird to breed. A rare colour morph of the pied wheatear, the “vittate” (with a white throat), is a real catch if you spot it when visiting the region. On a summer visit to Ladakh, we were headed to Taglang La, when we spotted a wheatear-like bird’s head peeping from behind a rockface. Our excited screams caused the driver to brake dangerously, and our binoculars were at our eyes even as we were jolted out of our car seats. But alas, the bird we had spotted was just a desert wheatear!

Lastly, the featureless, drab, and almost uniformly brown wheatear found commonly even in gardens and building rooftops in northern, western, and central India is the brown rock chat — stouter-built and shorter-legged than the typical wheatear.

Though wheatears like specific habitats, one can spot migrating wheatears in the uncanniest locations, like the beach. While identifying them can be as trying as differentiating warblers, pipits etc., there is something enigmatic about wheatears that makes them an interesting species to observe.

Photo sources: northern wheatear, pied wheatear

About the authors

Adithi Muralidhar

works in the area of education and has a keen interest in the dynamics of society and environment. She blogs on www.earthlynotes.com and has recently discovered Instagram! (@theearthlynotes).