Northern wheatear

    Oenanthe oenanthe

Castilian: Collalba gris

Catalan: Còlit gris

Gallego: Pedreiro cincento

Euskera: Buztanzuri arrunta

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 “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

The expansion of shrubland and forests, reforestation, the abandonment of rural land and agricultural intensification are responsible for the alteration of this species' breeding habitat; droughts in wintering areas must be added to all of these problems.

Length / size: 14-16 cm / 26-32 cm

Identification: Small bird with a figure on its tail that is very characteristic of the wheatears: an inverted black "T" surrounded by the rest of the tail, which is white. The male's back is bluish-grey, his underparts are ochre-coloured, his forehead is white, and his wings and facial disc are black. The female lacks this facial disc and her back is ochre-coloured. A typical behaviour of this bird is to perch very upright on top of rocks.

Song: Its song is a series of brief and explosive sounds that are mixed with others that are rougher or are imitations of other birds. Its call is a short "chak, chak" clicking sound.

Diet: It primarily feeds on insects, spiders, small snails and small invertebrates, in addition to seeds and small fruits.

Reproduction: Although there are cases of polygame, it is fundamentally monogamous and begins breeding in April. The nest is placed in a hole, between rocks or in a wall, and it is bowl-shaped and made of moss, leaves and lichens. The female is responsible for incubation but both parents care for the chicks.

HABITAT

It occupies all kinds of habitats: dunes, pastureland, farmland, rocky places, steppes, high mountain areas, etc., but it needs stones or rocks where it can nest and open areas where insects are abundant. It is present from sea level up to an altitude of 3,250 metres in Sierra Nevada.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is distributed throughout the northern half of the peninsula, and is more limited in the Cantabrian slopes and Galicia; in the southern half and the Levante region, it is limited to high mountain areas, and it is absent in the southwestern quadrant.

In Castile and León: It is distributed throughout the entire community, with its largest breeding concentrations in Sierra de Gredos (Ávila), central León, northern Zamora and Valladolid, southwestern Burgos, and southern Soria.

Movements and migrations: It is a trans-Saharan migrant whose wintering areas are in the sub-Saharan region. The prenuptial passage in our country takes place between March and May, and the postnuptial between September and November.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 300000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: