Northern Wheatear

Oenanthe oenanthe

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Presence in the Strait: Migrant
Abundance: common
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Collalba gris

41% of its open observations in the area are from September.

Photograph: Mario Bassini, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 15–16 cm
Weight: 24 g

Presence in the Strait

Common migrant. Two sub-species can be observed: O. o. oenanthe, from Continental Europe, and O. o. leucorhoa, from Greenland.

Identification

Males have bluish-grey mantle and back, black wings and yellowish-buff underparts. Grey crown with white supercilium and black eye-mask. Females are grey-brown above with buff supercilium and lacking eye-mask. In winter both sexes generally browner. In flight, white rump and tail with an inverted “T” pattern in black at the end. It has a more upright stance than other wheatears. The leucorhoa subspecies is much bulkier and generally darker.

Movements

Prenuptial peaks in 1st hf. April; two peaks in postnuptial migration: 1st hf. September and 1st hf. October.

Ring recoveries

United Kingdom (10), Germany (2), Belgium (1), Finland (1), France (1) and Iceland (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

41 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 5 March 1968
Latest record: 20 October 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: NT · Near threatened · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

16 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

United Kingdom10
Germany2
Belgium1
Finland1
France1
Iceland1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Desert Wheatear14.5–15.5 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size
Black-eared Wheatear14.5–14.5 cm · Seasonal
Black Wheatear18–18 cm · Resident

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
GBIF taxon key: 5231240

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Mario Bassini, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Northern Wheatear

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery