Northern wheatear
Oenanthe oenanthe (Linnaeus, 1758)
The northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), also called the Wheatear or European wheatear, is a bird in the family Muscicapidae and the order Passeriformes, in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 25.4 g and a wingspan of 28 cm.
Quick facts about the northern wheatear
This migratory, perching invertivore lives in grassland and has a geographic range of 29,250,000 km². It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 23.1 g – 25.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 28 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 9.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 10.1 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 14 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.3 – 5.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- 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 northern wheatear?
Photos of the northern wheatear
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the northern wheatear live?
Not recorded
What is the northern wheatear?
The northern wheatear or wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It is the most widespread member of the wheatear genus Oenanthe in Europe and North and Central Asia. The northern wheatear is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in open stony country in Europe and east across the Palearctic with footholds in northeastern Canada and Greenland as well as in northwestern Canada and Alaska. It nests in rock crevices and rabbit burrows. All birds spend most of their winter in Africa.
From the Wikipedia article “Northern wheatear” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_wheatear&oldid=1384886418), 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 northern wheatear endangered?
The northern 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.
How is the northern wheatear classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMuscicapidae
- genusOenanthe
- SpeciesOenanthe oenanthe (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Montacilla oenanthe, Motacilla oeanthe, Motacilla oenanthe, Motacilla vitiflora, Oenanthe cinerea, Oenanthe oenanthe rostrata, Oenanthe oenanthe schiöleri, Oenanthe vitiflora, Saxicola albicaudata, Saxicola albicoccygea, Saxicola oenanthe, Saxicola oenanthe argentea, Saxicola rostrata, Sylvia oenanthe, Vitiflora cinerea, Vitiflora grisea, Vitiflora major, Vitiflora oenanthe, Vitiflora septentrionalis
Other names and names in other languages (99)
- European wheatearEnglish
- WheatearEnglish
- Europese SkaapwagterAfrikaans
- أبلق شماليArabic
- أبلق أوروبيArabic
- CudiblancaAragonese
- peñiquinaAsturian
- Палявая падкаменкаBelarusian
- Сиво каменарчеBulgarian
- Bistrak-aodBreton
- còlit grisCatalan
- СиргекMari
- КашкачапчамChuvash
- Ахаль чул кайӑкӗChuvash
- bělořit šedýCzech
- tinwen y garnWelsh
- Tinwennod y GarnWelsh
- stenpikkerDanish
- SteinschmätzerGerman
- ΣταχτοπετρόκληςGreek
- RokenantoEsperanto
- roka enantoEsperanto
- collalba grisSpanish
- Collalba norteñaSpanish
- kivitäksEstonian
- Ipurzuri arruntBasque
- چکچک کوهیPersian
- kivitaskuFinnish
- SteinstólpaFaroese
- Motteux cendréFrench
- traquet motteuxFrench
- DiksmiatNorthern Frisian
- HeidehipperWestern Frisian
- brù-gealScottish Gaelic
- brùthan-gealaScottish Gaelic
- clacharanScottish Gaelic
- clochránScottish Gaelic
- gdù-ghealScottish Gaelic
- Pedreiro cincentoGalician
- Thoyn-vaneManx
- סלעית אירופיתHebrew
- sivkasta bjeloguzaCroatian
- hantmadárHungarian
- Սովորական քարաթռչնակArmenian
- Քարաթռչնակ սովորականArmenian
- Decu KuningIndonesian
- SteindepillIcelandic
- CulbiancoItalian
- ハシグロヒタキJapanese
- ჩვეულებრივი მეღორღიაGeorgian
- kussakKalaallisut
- QussaqKalaallisut
- БзукӀэзэгуэхKabardian
- Кәдімгі тасшымшықKazakh
- 사막딱새Korean
- 북방사막딱새Korean
- TynwynCornish
- BroochschësserLuxembourgish
- kūltupisLithuanian
- paprastasis kūltupysLithuanian
- akmeņčakstīteLatvian
- обично камењарчеMacedonian
- വടക്കൻ നെന്മണിക്കുരുവിMalayalam
- Адууч чогчигоMongolian
- CodejancoNeapolitan
- tapuitDutch
- steinskvettNorwegian Nynorsk
- Tchu-bllauncnrm
- Chuchubi Ala PretoPapiamento
- Chuchubi Ala PretuPapiamento
- białorzytkaPolish
- białorzytka (zwyczajna)Polish
- Białorzytka zwyczajnaPolish
- chasco-cinzentoPortuguese
- Pietrar surRomanian
- КаменкаRussian
- ПопутчикRussian
- обыкновенная каменкаRussian
- ПопутчікRusyn
- Таба чыычааҕаYakut
- GeaðgerásttisNorthern Sami
- geađgerásttisNorthern Sami
- skaliarik sivýSlovak
- kupčarSlovenian
- Navadni kupčarSlovenian
- bishtbardha e guritAlbanian
- Obična beloguzaSerbian
- Обична белогузаSerbian
- Сивкаста белогузаSerbian
- stenskvättaSwedish
- นกเขนทะเลทรายแถบเหนือThai
- kuyrukkakanTurkish
- Bayağı KuyrukkakanTurkish
- АлгазиUdmurt
- Кам’янка звичайнаUkrainian
- Кам'янка звичайнаUkrainian
- 穗䳭Chinese
- 穗鵖Chinese
- 穗鵖Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the northern wheatear
Other species in the same genus Oenanthe.
Isabelline wheatear
Oenanthe isabellina
Desert wheatear
Oenanthe deserti
Western black-eared wheatear
Oenanthe hispanica
Pied wheatear
Oenanthe pleschanka
Black wheatear
Oenanthe leucura
White-crowned wheatear
Oenanthe leucopyga
CompareNorthern wheatear vs Isabelline wheatearNorthern wheatear vs Desert wheatearNorthern wheatear vs Western black-eared wheatearNorthern 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 northern wheatear?
The northern wheatear is a bird in the family Muscicapidae, part of the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup.
How big is the northern wheatear?
The northern wheatear is a small bird with an adult body mass of 25.4 g and a wingspan of 28 cm.
What does the northern wheatear eat?
The northern wheatear is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
What habitat does the northern wheatear live in?
The northern wheatear lives in grassland, where it has a perching lifestyle.
Is the northern wheatear endangered?
No. The northern wheatear is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does the northern wheatear live?
The northern wheatear has a lifespan of 9.6 years, with values up to 10.08 years reported by our sources.
How many eggs does the northern wheatear lay?
The northern wheatear lays 5.5 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year, with an egg incubation period of 14 days.
Who named the northern wheatear?
The northern wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).
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). Northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-wheatear
“Northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-wheatear.
@misc{northern_wheatear_2026,
title = {Northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-wheatear},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}