Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) - BirdLife species factsheet

Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note

Oenanthe oenanthe and O. seebohmi (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as O. oenanthe following AERC TAC (2003); AOU (1998 and supplements); Cramp et al. (1977-1994); Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993); Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993); Stotz et al. (1996).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	31 g

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	79,500,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	19,300,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	10000000-500000000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2015
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	4.1 years	-	-	-

Population justification: In Europe, the breeding population is estimated to number 5,280,000-15,800,000 pairs, which equates to 10,600,000-31,500,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). There are an estimated 100-10,000 breeding pairs and 50-1,000 individuals on migration in China, and 100-100,000 breeding pairs and 50-10,000 individuals on migration in Russia (Brazil 2009). It is likely that the global population falls into the band 10,000,000-500,000,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: In Europe, trends between 1980 and 2013 show that populations have undergone a moderate decline (EBCC 2015).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	native		yes
Albania	extant	native		yes
Algeria	extant	native			yes
Andorra	extant	native		yes
Armenia	extant	native		yes
Austria	extant	native		yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native		yes
Bahrain	extant	native				yes
Barbados	extant	vagrant
Belarus	extant	native		yes
Belgium	extant	native		yes
Benin	extant	native			yes
Bermuda (to UK)	extant	vagrant
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands)	extant	vagrant
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native		yes
Botswana	extant	vagrant
Bulgaria	extant	native		yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native			yes
Burundi	extant	native			yes
Cameroon	extant	native			yes
Canada	extant	native		yes
Cape Verde	extant	native				yes
Central African Republic	extant	native			yes
Chad	extant	native			yes
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Comoros	extant	vagrant
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native			yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	vagrant
Croatia	extant	native		yes
Cuba	extant	vagrant
Curaçao (to Netherlands)	extant	vagrant
Cyprus	extant	native		yes
Czechia	extant	native		yes
Denmark	extant	native		yes		yes
Djibouti	extant	native			yes
Egypt	extant	native			yes
Eritrea	extant	native			yes
Estonia	extant	native		yes
Ethiopia	extant	native			yes
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	native		yes
Finland	extant	native		yes		yes
France	extant	native		yes
Gabon	extant	vagrant
Gambia	extant	native			yes
Georgia	extant	native		yes
Germany	extant	native		yes		yes
Ghana	extant	native			yes
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	native		yes
Greece	extant	native		yes		yes
Greenland (to Denmark)	extant	native		yes
Guinea	extant	native			yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native			yes
Hungary	extant	native		yes
Iceland	extant	native		yes
India	extant	vagrant
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native		yes		yes
Iraq	extant	native		yes		yes
Ireland	extant	native		yes
Israel	extant	native		yes
Italy	extant	native		yes		yes
Japan	extant	vagrant
Jordan	extant	native				yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native		yes
Kenya	extant	native			yes
Kuwait	extant	native				yes
Kyrgyzstan	extant	native		yes
Latvia	extant	native		yes
Lebanon	extant	native	yes			yes
Liberia	extant	native			yes
Libya	extant	native			yes
Liechtenstein	extant	native		yes
Lithuania	extant	native		yes
Luxembourg	extant	native		yes
Malawi	extant	native			yes
Malaysia	extant	vagrant
Maldives	extant	vagrant
Mali	extant	native			yes
Malta	extant	native		yes
Mauritania	extant	native
Mexico	extant	vagrant
Moldova	extant	native		yes
Monaco	extant	native		yes
Mongolia	extant	native		yes
Montenegro	extant	native		yes
Morocco	extant	native			yes
Nepal	extant	vagrant
Netherlands	extant	native		yes
Niger	extant	native			yes
Nigeria	extant	native			yes
North Macedonia	extant	native		yes
Norway	extant	native		yes
Oman	extant	native			yes	yes
Pakistan	extant	vagrant
Palestine	extant	native				yes
Philippines	extant	vagrant
Poland	extant	native		yes
Portugal	extant	native		yes
Puerto Rico (to USA)	extant	vagrant
Qatar	extant	native				yes
Romania	extant	native		yes
Russia	extant	native		yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (European)	extant	native		yes
Rwanda	extant	native			yes
San Marino	extant	native		yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native				yes
Senegal	extant	native			yes
Serbia	extant	native		yes
Seychelles	extant	vagrant
Sierra Leone	extant	native			yes
Sint Maarten (to Netherlands)	extant	vagrant
Slovakia	extant	native		yes
Slovenia	extant	native		yes
Somalia	extant	native			yes
South Korea	extant	vagrant
South Sudan	extant	native			yes
Spain	extant	native		yes
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France)	extant	vagrant				yes
Sudan	extant	native			yes
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway)	extant	native		yes
Sweden	extant	native		yes
Switzerland	extant	native		yes
Syria	extant	native		yes		yes
Tajikistan	extant	native		yes
Tanzania	extant	native			yes
Togo	extant	native			yes
Tunisia	extant	native			yes
Türkiye	extant	native		yes
Turkmenistan	extant	native		yes
Uganda	extant	native			yes
Ukraine	extant	native		yes		yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	native				yes
United Kingdom	extant	native		yes
USA	extant	native		yes
Uzbekistan	extant	native		yes
Western Sahara	extant	native			yes
Yemen	extant	native			yes	yes
Zambia	extant	native			yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native			yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Desert	Hot	suitable	non-breeding
Desert	Hot	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Sand Dunes	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Sand Dunes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	suitable	non-breeding
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	non-breeding
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	breeding
Savanna	Dry	suitable	breeding
Savanna	Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 2800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Agriculture & aquaculture

Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Ecosystem conversion

Agriculture & aquaculture

Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Indirect ecosystem effects

Biological resource use

Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Species mortality

Climate change & severe weather

Droughts

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Past, Likely to Return

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Past Impact

Stresses
Indirect ecosystem effects, Species mortality

Residential & commercial development

Housing & urban areas

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Ecosystem conversion

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-wheatear-oenanthe-oenanthe on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.