Red-rumped Wheatear
A species of Wheatears Scientific name : Oenanthe moesta Genus : Wheatears
Red-rumped Wheatear, A species of Wheatears
Botanical name: Oenanthe moesta
Genus: Wheatears
Content
Description General Info
Description
The red-rumped wheatear is a compact, big-headed wheatear with a rufous rump and all dark tail. the male has a grey crown and nape with a black throat and face and white supercilium. The shoulders and back are black with white fringes to the feathers, the rump and base of the tail are rufous and the distal part of the tail is black. Female is paler with a rufous crown and cheeks. Juveniles are similar to females but are less rufous and do show faint spots and streaks. Length is 16 cm. The fly low to the ground with a loose flapping flight that resembles a skylark. 
Size
16 cm
Feeding Habits
Red-rumped Wheatear consumes beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and ants, and sometimes green plants. They feed nestlings primarily with a pale scorpion species. Red-rumped Wheatear employs perch-and-pounce and bound-and-grab methods, even foraging in the intertidal zone along Morocco's Atlantic coast.
Habitat
The red-rumped Wheatear typically inhabits bush-clad desert fringes and flat, dry saline steppes with sparse vegetation, favoring areas with Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae. This species is adapted to semi-desert plains, including sandy, stony, and clay terrains with low bushes. It is often found around dry lakebeds and saltflats across broader geographical regions of desert margins but avoids true deserts, highly rocky areas, and heavily dissected landscapes. Suitable habitats are characterized by flat or gently sloping grounds, with a noted preference for regions dotted with rodent burrows where vegetation is present.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Distribution Area
There are two recognised subspecies of Red-rumped wheatear, they are: Oenanthe moesta brooksbanki Meinertzhagen, 1923 - southern Syria and Jordan to north-western Saudi Arabia and south-western Iraq. Oenanthe moesta moesta (Lichtenstein, 1823) = North Africa from extreme north of Mauritania to coastal north-west Egypt.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Old world flycatchers Genus
Wheatears Species
Red-rumped Wheatear 
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