Black-eared wheatear

    Oenanthe hispanica

Castilian: Collalba rubia

Catalan: Còlit ros

Gallego: Pedreiro rubio

Euskera: Buztanzuri horia

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Turdidae

Migratory status: Summer resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Near Threatened”.

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THREATS

The alteration of its breeding areas due to agricultural intensification, the reforestation of marginal land, and droughts in wintering areas are the most important threats.

Length / size: 14 cm / 25 -27 cm

Identification: Small bird with the inverted "T" on its tail but with the white part extending to the edges. The male has a marked contrast between the black on his wings and his facial disc and the yellowish-ochre colours of his back and belly; the female is similar to the male, but brown. There are two varieties of throat colour: white and black.

Song: It makes a series of clicks and whistles as its call. Its song consists of a series of screeching notes, with accelerated and high-pitched trills.

Diet: It feeds on insects, and also on small fruits at the end of summer, and before and during migration.

Reproduction: The breeding period begins in April. It prepares a cup-shaped nest made of grass and moss, which is placed on the ground and protected by a bush or rock. The female is responsible for incubation but both parents feed the chicks.

HABITAT

It is a typical species in open, dry environments. It occupies everywhere from deforested areas and uncultivated land to thin forests and grasslands, tree farms, etc.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is distributed throughout the entire Mediterranean region, and it absent in the Cantabrian region and Galicia, in mountainous areas in the Iberian System, and in the Balearic and Canary Islands.

In Castile and León: It is distributed throughout the entire community, although it is rarer and located in specific places in Burgos, Palencia and León.

Movements and migrations: It is a trans-Saharan migrant whose wintering areas are in the Sahel belt. The prenuptial passage takes place between March and May, and the postnuptial one between August and October.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of more than half a million breeding pairs (1997 data).

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of 2500-3000 breeding pairs.