| Cyprus wheatear | |
|---|---|
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| Akamas, Cyprus | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Oenanthe |
| Species: | O. cypriaca |
| Binomial name | |
| Oenanthe cypriaca (Homeyer, 1885) | |
TheCyprus wheatear orCyprus pied wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca) is a small, 14–15 cm longpasserinebird that was formerly classed as a member of thethrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be anOld World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It was formerly treated as a subspecies (race) ofpied wheatear but Sluys and van den Berg (1982)[2] argued that the form deserved full species status, on the basis of differences in biometrics and especially song, and the lack of sexual plumage dimorphism incypriaca.
Thismigratory insectivorous speciesbreeds only inCyprus, and winters in southernSudan andEthiopia.[3] It has been recorded as a vagrant on Heligoland, Germany.[4]
This species closely resembles pied wheatear, although it has slightly more black on the tail and back, and on the head. The sexes are similar in appearance, a fact first documented by Christensen (1974).[5] A 2010 study found that Cyprus wheatear differs from pied wheatear in fourteen external morphometric characters.[4]
The song is distinctive, and very different from that of pied wheatear, resembling an insect. It consists of a series of high-pitched buzzing bursts.[6]
The song-perches utilised by this species are high for a wheatear, typically being 5 to 10 metres above ground. It often breeds in woodland habitats, unlike other wheatears (Oliver 1990[7] suggested that it occupies the ecological niche used elsewhere in theWestern Palearctic by thecommon redstart). It is the most arboreal species of wheatear in the western palearctic and it uses often aerialsallying and perch-pounce-feeding tactics. Recent work suggest an ecological differentiation between Cyprus wheatear and migrating northern wheatearsO. oenanthe and black-eared wheatearsO. hispanica melanoleuca. Cyprus wheatear uses more aerial sallying and occupies more forested habitats, but needs a minimum amount of open/bare ground, and a minimum of high bush/tree vegetation (Randler et al. 2009[8]).
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