Isabelline Wheatear

• It nests underground in the abandoned burrows of gerbils and ground squirrels, sometimes more than a metre deep, and depends on those rodents in order to breed on the bare steppe.
• Its name refers to the colour isabelline, a pale beige which, according to an apocryphal legend, comes from a vow by Isabella of Castile not to change her shift until Granada was taken.
• It is among the hardest wheatears to identify precisely because of its lack of features: uniformly sandy, without contrast, and telling it from other species demands attention to proportions and posture.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Arid steppe, semi-desert and stony plains of Central Asia and the Near East

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

13 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

5 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Oenanthe isabellina

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.