CreatureData

Desert wheatear

Oenanthe deserti (Temminck, 1825)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) is a species in the family Muscicapidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 19.5 g to 20.3 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti)
Photo: Dr. Raju Kasambe · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the desert wheatear

Weight
19.5 g – 20.3 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the desert wheatear live?

Not recorded

What is the desert wheatear?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). It is a migratory insectivorous species, 14.5 to 15 cm (5.7 to 5.9 in) in length. Both western and eastern forms of the desert wheatear are rare vagrants to western Europe. The western desert wheatear breeds in the Sahara and the northern Arabian Peninsula. The eastern race is found in the semi-deserts of Central Asia and in winter in Pakistan and northeast Africa.

The plumage of the upper parts of the male in summer is buff. The underparts are white with a buff tinge on the breast. The black on the face and throat extends to the shoulders, and there is distinct white superciliary stripe. The female is greyer above and buffer below and has no black on the throat, and in the winter plumage the black on the throat of the male is partially obscured by the white tips of the feathers. A distinguishing characteristic, in both sexes of all ages, is that the entire tail is black to the level of the upper tail-coverts.

The desert wheatear feeds largely on insects which it picks up off the ground. It breeds in the spring when a clutch of usually four pale blue, slightly speckled eggs is laid in a well-concealed nest made of grasses, mosses and stems.

From the Wikipedia article “Desert wheatear” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Desert_wheatear&oldid=1384474219), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the desert wheatear endangered?

The desert wheatear is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the desert wheatear classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyMuscicapidae
  6. genusOenanthe
  7. SpeciesOenanthe deserti (Temminck, 1825)

Synonyms Saxicola albifrons, Saxicola albomarginata, Saxicola deserti, Saxicola gutturalis, Saxicola montana, Saxicola pallida

Other names and names in other languages (59)
  • DEWHEnglish
  • أبلق صحراويArabic
  • أبلق الصحراءArabic
  • peñiquina'l desiertuAsturian
  • Пустинно каменарчеBulgarian
  • Bistrak-dezerzhBreton
  • còlit del desertCatalan
  • Пустыня сиргекMari
  • bělořit pouštníCzech
  • Tinwen y DiffeithwchWelsh
  • Tinwennod y DiffeithwchWelsh
  • ØrkenstenpikkerDanish
  • WüstensteinschmätzerGerman
  • Wüsten-SteinschmätzerGerman
  • ΕρημοπετρόκληςGreek
  • dezerta enantoEsperanto
  • Collalba desérticaSpanish
  • kõrbe-kivitäksEstonian
  • چکچک بیابانیPersian
  • aavikkotaskuFinnish
  • OyðustólpaFaroese
  • Traquet du désertFrench
  • Clochrán fásaighIrish
  • Thoyn-vane yn 'aasaghScottish Gaelic
  • Pedreiro do desertoGalician
  • סלעית מדברHebrew
  • pustinjska bjeloguzaCroatian
  • sivatagi hantmadárHungarian
  • Անապատային քարաթռչնակArmenian
  • Քարաթռչնակ անապատայինArmenian
  • AuðnadepillIcelandic
  • Monachella del desertoItalian
  • サバクヒタキJapanese
  • Шөл тасшымшығыKazakh
  • 검은꼬리사막딱새Korean
  • dykuminis kūltupysLithuanian
  • tuksneša čakstīteLatvian
  • മരുപ്പക്ഷിMalayalam
  • रणगोजाMarathi
  • WoestijntapuitDutch
  • ørkensteinskvettNorwegian
  • białorzytka pustynnaPolish
  • chasco-do-desertoPortuguese
  • Пустынная каменкаRussian
  • SáttoábegeaðgerásttisNorthern Sami
  • čáhppesčottageađgerásttisNorthern Sami
  • sáttoábegeađgerásttisNorthern Sami
  • skaliarik púšťovýSlovak
  • puščavski kupčarSlovenian
  • Pustinjska beloguzaSerbian
  • Пустињска белогузаSerbian
  • ökenstenskvättaSwedish
  • นกเขนทะเลทรายคอดำThai
  • Çöl KuyrukkakanıTurkish
  • кам’янка пустельнаUkrainian
  • Кам'янка пустельнаUkrainian
  • 漠䳭Chinese
  • 漠鵖Chinese
  • 漠鵖Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the desert wheatear

Other species in the same genus Oenanthe.

CompareDesert wheatear vs Northern wheatearDesert wheatear vs Isabelline wheatearDesert wheatear vs Western black-eared wheatearDesert wheatear vs Pied wheatear

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the desert wheatear?

An adult desert wheatear weighs 19.5 g – 20.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the desert wheatear endangered?

The desert wheatear is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the desert wheatear?

The desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) belongs to the family Muscicapidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-wheatear

MLA

“Desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-wheatear.

BibTeX
@misc{desert_wheatear_2026,
  title = {Desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-wheatear},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}