The northern wheatear is a bold, elegant ground loving chat. The adult male possesses blue-grey upperparts, black wings and cream-coloured underparts. It has a long, broad dark eye stripe and an inverted black “T” shape at the base of its white tail, which is very visible when in flight. The female displays brown upperparts and lacks the distinctive long eyepatch, although its tail is similar.  

Behaviour

Wheatears are one of the world’s long-distance migrants, embarking on an epic journeys from Africa to the UK each spring. The adults have a strong bond to territory, remaining essentially monogamous, providing the mate returns at the beginning of the breeding season. A clutch of four to seven eggs is usually laid in May, hatching after approximately 13 days. Chicks fledge about two weeks later. 

Outside the breeding season, wheatears are solitary and commonly seen perching on stones or low bushes from which they scan the ground for insects, spiders and small invertebrates. They have a distinctive territorial song – a harsh ‘chack-chack, or ‘weet-chack-chack’.

They have a lifespan of up to five years.

Size

• Length: 14-15.5cm
• Wingspan: 26-32cm
• Weight: 18-28g

Status

Classified in the UK as Green under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015). Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. 

Distribution

A summer visitor to Scotland, found mainly in upland areas (between 300-800 m), with dense populations also found at sea-level on the Northern and Western Isles. One of the earliest summer visitors to arrive; present in southern coastal areas (e.g., Borders, Dumfries and Galloway) from early to mid-March, moving northwards in April and arriving in Shetland as late as early June. At the end of July, breeding birds start to leave nesting sites with passage continuing into late October. 

When to see

March to early October. Most will have departed from Scotland by mid-September.

Facts

• The wheatear’s name is thought to come from the Old English for ‘white’ (wheat) and ‘arse’ (ear), after the bird’s white rump. 

• There are four sub-species of wheatear; all migrate and winter in Africa, but occupy different breeding grounds ranging from north-east Canada to Iran and Kazakhstan. Scottish birds are generally Oenanthe oenanthe oenanthe but it’s possible that some later migrants found in the Fair Isles could include a few Oenanthe oenanthe leucorhoa which usually breed in Greenland and Iceland.