Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Saturday 14 May 2016

(EASTERN) BLACK EARED WHEATEAR [Male] (Oenanthe hispanica subspecies O. h. melanoleuca) Cape Kutri, Kisamos district, Crete, Greece


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Click here for detailed species information
Click here to see distribution map and to hear calls
The Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica) is a migratory passerine in the family Muscicapidae which is in the genus Oenanthe. Two subspecies are recognised, the Western Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica hispanica) breeds in Northwest Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Southeast France, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. and the Eastern Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica melanoleuca) occurs in the rest of the Balkans eastwards to the Caspian Sea and south as far as Iran. Some males of both subspecies are of the pale throat-ed form. It winters in sub Saharan Africa.