Birds · Passeriformes · Muscicapidae

Cyprus Wheatear

Oenanthe cypriaca

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The Cypriot wheatear or Cyprus wheatear is a species of passerine bird of the family Muscicapidae endemic to Cyprus. This small passerine, 14-15 cm long, used to be treated as a subspecies of the pied wheatear, but Sluys and van den Berg argued in 1892 that it deserved full species status, on the basis of differences in biometrics and especially in song, and the lack of sexual dimorphism in the plumage of cypriaca. The number of individuals is around 12,000.

Weight

14 g – 20 g

Size

13 cm – 15 cm

Lifespan

7 years

Diet

Insectivore

Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

DesertMountainGrasslandInsectivore Diurnal In pairs Bird Desert Mountain Grassland

7countries 6parks14same family

Fun facts

It breeds only on Cyprus, an island of less than 10,000 square kilometres, and the entire world population winters in a narrow strip of north-east Africa: two tiny areas connected by a journey of thousands of kilometres.
It was split from the pied wheatear as a species of its own in the 1990s, on the basis of differences in song, plumage and genetics.
It is one of the species affected by the illegal trapping of birds with nets and limesticks in Cyprus, a traditional practice that has become industrialised and that kills millions of migratory birds every year.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Stony slopes, open scrub, vineyards and field edges of Cyprus; winters in Ethiopia and Sudan
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 13 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 5 eggs

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oenanthe_cypriaca