Pied wheatear
Oenanthe pleschanka (Lepechin, 1770)
The pied wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) is a species in the family Muscicapidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 18.3 g to 20.6 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the pied wheatear
- Weight
- 18.3 g – 20.6 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- rockysrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.9 – 5.09src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the pied wheatear live?
Not recorded
What is the pied wheatear?
The pied wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) is a wheatear, a small insectivorous 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 (family Muscicapidae). This migratory central Asiatic wheatear occurs from the extreme southeast of Europe to China, and has been found wintering in India and northeastern Africa. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The male is a boldly marked white-and-black bird. The white crown tinged with brown contrasts with the black face and throat and white rump. The female is browner, and the head is washed with sandy buff. Females are darker than the females of the northern wheatear, look smaller and show less white on the rump. The tail feathers are white with characteristic black markings, which form an inverted black "T" pattern that resembles the tail of the western black-eared wheatear. This 14 centimetres (5.5 in) bird nests in open, stony, sparsely vegetated regions, laying four to six eggs in a hole, under a stone or in a rock crevice. The pied wheatear primarily eats insects but will also take seeds.
From the Wikipedia article “Pied wheatear” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pied_wheatear&oldid=1383979562), 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 pied wheatear endangered?
The pied 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 pied wheatear classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMuscicapidae
- genusOenanthe
- SpeciesOenanthe pleschanka (Lepechin, 1770)
Synonyms Motacilla leucomela, Motacilla pleschanka, Muscicapa leucomela, Oenanthe leucomela, Oenanthe pleschanka plenschanka, Oenanthe pleschanka pleschanka, Oenanthe pleschanka vittata, Oenanthe somalica, Oenanthe vittata, Saxicola atricollis, Saxicola leucomela, Saxicola somalica, Saxicola vittata, Sylvia leucomela, Vitiflora leucomela
Other names and names in other languages (56)
- PIWHEnglish
- BontskaapwagterAfrikaans
- أبلق أبقعArabic
- Черногърбо каменарчеBulgarian
- Bistrak brizhBreton
- còlit de pit negreCatalan
- Ала сиргекMari
- bělořit bělohlavýCzech
- Tinwen FraithWelsh
- Tinwennod BrithWelsh
- NonnestenpikkerDanish
- NonnensteinschmätzerGerman
- ΠαρδαλοπετρόκληςGreek
- nigrablanka enantoEsperanto
- Collalba píaSpanish
- nunn-kivitäksEstonian
- چکچک ابلق معمولیPersian
- nunnataskuFinnish
- BlikstólpaFaroese
- Traquet pieFrench
- Traquet leucomèleFrench
- Clochrán alabhreacIrish
- סלעית שיחיםHebrew
- dvobojna bjeloguzaCroatian
- apácahantmadárHungarian
- Սևաթիկունք քարաթռչնակArmenian
- Քարաթռչնակ սևաթիկունքArmenian
- NunnudepillIcelandic
- Monachella dorsoneroItalian
- セグロサバクヒタキJapanese
- Қасқа тасшымшықKazakh
- 검은등사막딱새Korean
- margasis kūltupysLithuanian
- daglā čakstīteLatvian
- шарено камењарчеMacedonian
- വെള്ളക്കറുപ്പൻ നെന്മണിക്കുരുവിMalayalam
- Bonte TapuitDutch
- svartstrupesteinskvettNorwegian
- białorzytka pstraPolish
- chasco-bicolorPortuguese
- chasco-malhadoPortuguese
- Pietrar negruRomanian
- Каменка-плешанкаRussian
- NunnágeaðgerásttisNorthern Sami
- nunnágeađgerásttisNorthern Sami
- skaliarik plešankaSlovak
- črnomorski kupčarSlovenian
- Crno-bela beloguzaSerbian
- Црно-бела белогузаSerbian
- nunnestenskvättaSwedish
- Alaca KuyrukkakanTurkish
- кам’янка лисаUkrainian
- Кам'янка лисаUkrainian
- 斑鴝Chinese
- 斑鴝〔白頂鵖〕Chinese
- 白顶䳭Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the pied wheatear
Other species in the same genus Oenanthe.
Northern wheatear
Oenanthe oenanthe
Isabelline wheatear
Oenanthe isabellina
Desert wheatear
Oenanthe deserti
Western black-eared wheatear
Oenanthe hispanica
Black wheatear
Oenanthe leucura
White-crowned wheatear
Oenanthe leucopyga
ComparePied wheatear vs Northern wheatearPied wheatear vs Isabelline wheatearPied wheatear vs Desert wheatearPied wheatear vs Western black-eared wheatear
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the pied wheatear?
An adult pied wheatear weighs 18.3 g – 20.6 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the pied wheatear endangered?
The pied 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 pied wheatear?
The pied wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) 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.
- 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). Pied wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/pied-wheatear
“Pied wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/pied-wheatear.
@misc{pied_wheatear_2026,
title = {Pied wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/pied-wheatear},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}