Isabelline wheatear
Oenanthe isabellina (Temminck, 1829)
The isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) is a bird in the family Muscicapidae, order Passeriformes, placed in the group of songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 29.4 g, an invertivore that lives in shrubland and has a perching lifestyle.
_male,_non-breeding.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the isabelline wheatear
Its clutch size is 5.5 eggs, with 2 clutches per year and an egg incubation period of 15 days. The IUCN Red List classifies it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 11,710,000 km².
- Weight
- 28.5 g – 30.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 15 cm – 16.5 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 15 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the isabelline wheatear?
Photos of the isabelline wheatear
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the isabelline wheatear live?
Not recorded
What is the isabelline wheatear?
The isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) is 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 in the family Muscicapidae. It is a migratory insectivorous bird. Its habitat is steppe and open countryside and it breeds in southern Russia and Central Asia to northern Pakistan, wintering in Africa and northwestern India. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
In colouring it resembles a female northern wheatear but it is larger at 15–16.5 centimetres (5.9–6.5 in) in length, more upright and more tawny in colour, and has more black on its tail. The term isabelline refers to the parchment-like colouration. The axillaries and underwing coverts are white, whereas in the commoner bird they are mottled with grey. The sexes are similar.
From the Wikipedia article “Isabelline wheatear” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Isabelline_wheatear&oldid=1354930800), 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 isabelline wheatear endangered?
The isabelline wheatear is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the isabelline wheatear classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMuscicapidae
- genusOenanthe
- SpeciesOenanthe isabellina (Temminck, 1829)
Synonyms Motacilla strapazina, Oenanthe isabellina kargasi, Saxicola isabellina, Saxicola olivastra, Saxicola saltator, Saxicola saltatrix, Saxicola squalida, Saxicola strapazina, Vitiflora saltatrix
Other names and names in other languages (61)
- VaalskaapwagterAfrikaans
- مدقيArabic
- أبلق أشهبArabic
- Ориенталско каменарчеBulgarian
- Bistrak melenwennBreton
- còlit pàl·lidCatalan
- Куштышы сиргекMari
- bělořit plavýCzech
- Tinwen IsabellaWelsh
- Tinwen FelynllwydWelsh
- Tinwennod IsabellaWelsh
- IsabellastenpikkerDanish
- IsabellsteinschmätzerGerman
- Isabell-SteinschmätzerGerman
- ΑμμοπετρόκληςGreek
- izabela enantoEsperanto
- Collalba isabelSpanish
- liiv-kivitäksEstonian
- چکچک دشتیPersian
- arotaskuFinnish
- Traquet sauteurFrench
- Traquet isabelleFrench
- Clochrán gainimhIrish
- Thoyn-vane gheinneeScottish Gaelic
- סלעית ערבותHebrew
- azijska bjeloguzaCroatian
- pusztai hantmadárHungarian
- Պարող քարաթռչնակArmenian
- Քարաթռչնակ պարողArmenian
- SteppudepillIcelandic
- Culbianco isabellinoItalian
- イナバヒタキJapanese
- ცეკვია მეღორღიაGeorgian
- Биші шақшақайKazakh
- 긴다리사막딱새Korean
- palšasis kūltupysLithuanian
- dūkainā čakstīteLatvian
- smiltāju čakstīteLatvian
- നെന്മണിക്കുരുവിMalayalam
- मातकट रणगोजाMarathi
- SteppesteinskvettNorwegian Bokmål
- IzabeltapuitDutch
- isabellasteinskvettNorwegian
- białorzytka płowaPolish
- chasco-isabelPortuguese
- Pietrar răsăriteanRomanian
- Каменка-плясуньяRussian
- IsabellageaðgerásttisNorthern Sami
- isabellageađgerásttisNorthern Sami
- skaliarik plavýSlovak
- bledi kupčarSlovenian
- Stepska beloguzaSerbian
- isabellastenskvättaSwedish
- นกเขนทะเลทรายThai
- Boz KuyrukkakanTurkish
- кам’янка попелястаUkrainian
- Кам'янка попелястаUkrainian
- 沙䳭Chinese
- 沙即鳥Chinese
- 沙鵖Chinese
- 沙鵖Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the isabelline wheatear
Other species in the same genus Oenanthe.
Northern wheatear
Oenanthe oenanthe
Desert wheatear
Oenanthe deserti
Western black-eared wheatear
Oenanthe hispanica
Pied wheatear
Oenanthe pleschanka
Black wheatear
Oenanthe leucura
White-crowned wheatear
Oenanthe leucopyga
CompareIsabelline wheatear vs Northern wheatearIsabelline wheatear vs Desert wheatearIsabelline wheatear vs Western black-eared wheatearIsabelline wheatear vs Pied wheatear
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the isabelline wheatear?
The isabelline wheatear is a bird in the family Muscicapidae, part of the group of songbirds and other perching birds.
How heavy is the isabelline wheatear?
Its adult body mass is 29.4 g, with values from 28.5 to 30.3 g reported by our sources.
What does the isabelline wheatear eat?
It is an invertivore, placed at the carnivore trophic level.
Is the isabelline wheatear endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How many eggs does the isabelline wheatear lay?
Its clutch size is 5.5 eggs, with 2 clutches per year, and the eggs are incubated for 15 days.
Does the isabelline wheatear migrate?
Yes, it is migratory.
Who named the isabelline wheatear?
Its scientific name, Oenanthe isabellina, carries the authority (Temminck, 1829).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/isabelline-wheatear
“Isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/isabelline-wheatear.
@misc{isabelline_wheatear_2026,
title = {Isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/isabelline-wheatear},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}