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MUSCICAPIDAE

Muscicapidae is a large family of small birds restricted to the Old World. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, take their prey on the wing. The appearance of these birds is very varied, but they mostly have weak songs and harsh calls. They vary 10 to 21 cm. Many species are a dull brown in color. Most have broad, flattened, bill, suited to catching insects in flight, although the few ground foraging species typically have finer bills. They live in almost every environment with a suitable supply of trees, from dense forest to open scrub. The more northerly species migrate south in winter, ensuring a continuous diet of insects.


REDSTARTs, WHEATEARs

Order Passeriformes    Family Muscicapidae


Genus Oenanthe
Found in: Europe, Asia, Africa

Chat,_Brown_Rock also Indian Chat  Oenanthe fusca also Cercomela fusca  Found: India, Pakistan
The Indian Chat has rufous-brown plumage; darker wings, tail.
Image by: 1) Bhardwaj Shanthanu - Kachchh, Gujarat, India  2, 3) J M Garg - Haryana, India  4) Richard_Sharpe - India  5)   Anuradha - India   6) Koshy_Koshy - India



Chat,_Brown-tailed_Rock- Oenanthe scotocerca also Cercomela scotocerca  Found: Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda
Image by: 1) Dave_Curtis - Kenya  2) Peter_Wilton - Ethiopia  3, 4) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia


Chat,_Familiar  also  Red-tailed Chat  Oenanthe familiaris  also  Cercomela familiaris  Found: Africa
The Familiar Chat has brown upperparts; off-white to pale-gray underparts; orange rump; black bill, legs.
Image by: 1) Mike Richardson - Zambia  2, 4) Derek_Keats - South Africa  3) Bernard_Dupont - South Africa 


Chat,_Sombre  Oenanthe dubia also Cercomela dubia  Found: Ethiopia, Somalia
Image by: 1) Kerejoo  2) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia


Wheatear,_Abyssinian Oenanthe lugubris  Found: Ethiopia, Kenya, Oman, Somalia, Tanzania
The mourning wheatear is split from Abyssinian wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris), which is the species found south of the Sahara.
Image by: 1, 6, 7) Darren Bellerby - Hell's Gate National Park, Kenya  3, 5) Joseph Mochoge - Gilgil, Kenya    2, 4, 9) Dick Daniels - Fish Eagle Lodge, Knysna Lagoon  8) Alastair Rae 
1, 2, 3, 4) Female   5 - 9) Male




Wheatear,_Arabian  Oenanthe lugentoides  Found: Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Yemen.
Image by: 1) Jack246


Wheatear,_Black  Oenanthe leucura  Found: northen Africa, southern Europe
The male has mainly black plumage; white tail, rump. Female has black replaced with dark brown.
Image by: 1) Ximo_Galarza  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Morocco  2) Agustin Povedano - Spain


Wheatear,_Black-eared  Oenanthe hispanica  Found: southern Europe; northern Africa
The male Black-eared Wheatear has black ear coverts and sometimes black throat; white (breeding) or pale buff (nonbreeding) crown, mantel, throat, underparts. Female has browner plumage.
Image by: 1 Vitaliy Khustochka - Ukraine  2) Mark Jobling - Greece    3) Cristobal Rueda  4) Michael Sveikutis female


Wheatear,_Capped  Oenanthe pileata  Found:  Africa
The Capped Wheatear has black cap, mask; breast band; white eye-stripe, throat, lower belly; buff flanks, lower belly.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya  2, 3, 4) Dick near De Hoop, South Africa   5) Tarique_Sani



Wheatear,_Cyprus  Oenanthe cypriaca  Found: northeast Africa
The_Cyprus Wheatear was previously considered a subspecies of the Pied Wheatear. The song is distinctive, and very different from that of pied Wheatear,_resembling an insect. Also, unlike for the Pied Wheatear, the Cyprus Wheatear male and female plumages the same.ß
Image by: 1) Michael_Sveikutis - Cyprus  2) Collieston_Birder  3) Michael_Sveikutis


Wheatear, Desert  Oenanthe deserti  Found: Asia, Africa
The male has buff upperparts; white underparts with buff tinge on breast; black on face extends to shoulders; white supercilium. Female has grayer upperparts; buffer underparts; no black on throat. Both sexes have black tail.
Image by:  1, 2) Hiyashi Haka  3) Ainars Aunins 3) Alastair Rae 4) Mvbhaktha  4) Imran_Shah - Pakistan
1, 2) Female  2, 4) Male


Wheatear,_Finsch's  Oenanthe finschii  Found: northwest Africa, Asia
The male Finsch's Wheatear has white crown, nape, central back, underparts; rest black. Female has gray-brown upperparts; buff breast; white belly.
Image by: 1) Marcel_Holyoak 2) Durzan_Cirano  3) Ron_Knight


Wheatear,_Heuglin's Oenanthe heuglini  Found: northern Africa
The Heuglin's Wheatear has dark gray-brown upperparts; black mask; white supercilium; orange-buff breast shading to paler throat and belly.
Image by: 1) michaelandhelencox - Uganda  2) Lars_Peterrson - Cameroon


Wheatear,_Hooded  Oenanthe monacha  Found: Africa, Asia
The male Hooded Wheatear has black upperparts, upper-breast; white crown, lower-breast, belly. Female has brown plumage; lighter underparts.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Marcel_Holyoak - Jordan


Wheatear,_Hume's  Oenanthe albonigra  Found: southwest Asia
The Hume's Wheatear is found in Afghanistan, Bahrain, India, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Tamsin_Carlisle


Wheatear_ Isabelline  Oenanthe isabellina  Found: Asia, Africa
The Isabelline Wheatear has tawny upperparts; black tail; white underwings, underparts.
Image by: 1) Sergey Yeliseev    2) Lip Kee Yap - Kutch, Gujerat, India  3) Noel_Reynolds


Wheatear,_Kurdish  also Rufous-tailed Wheatear    Oenanthe xanthoprymna  Found: northeast Africa, Asia
The male Kurdish Wheatear has brownish-gray upperparts; gray crown, nape; black face, throat; white supercilium,; white or buff underparts; orange rump. Female similar but more muted; dark face and throat replaced by gray eye-patch.
The Kurdish Wheaterr used to include the Red-tailed Wheatear.
Image by: 1) Henrik_Gronvold  2, 3) Oscar_Swartz - Cyprus 


Wheatear,_Mountain also Mountain Chat  Oenanthe monticola  Found: Africa
The Mountain Wheatear has a distinctive tail pattern, with a white rump and outer tail feathers. Male has variable plumage; always white shoulder patch; may have white crown; darker plumage may be pale gray to black. Female has mainly dark brown plumage;  white rump and outer tail.
Image by: 1) Jerry Oldenettel - Namib Desert Lodge, Namibia  2) Cristiano Crolle -  Namib Naukluft, Namibia   3, 4) Hans Hillewaert - Welwitschia Plains, Namibia   5) JMK - Pretoria
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male



Wheatear,_Mourning  Oenanthe lugens  Found: northwest Africa, Middle East
The mourning wheatear is split from Abyssinian wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris), which is the species found south of the Sahara.
Image by: 1) Darren - Kenya  2) PS_Jeremy - Jordan 3) Rachid - Egypt 



Wheatear,_Northern Oenanthe oenanthe   Found: northeast Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa
The Northern Wheatear has white belly and tail.  Breeding male has gray upperparts; black wings; buff throat. Female has buff upperparts; darker brown wings; white belly.  Nonbreeding male resembles female.
Image by:  1) Frans_Vandewalle - Belgium  2) Frank Vassen - Belgium  3) Cristiano Crolle - near Novara, Italy  4)  Mark Medcalf - Scotland    5)  Philippe Kurlapski  6) Dick Daniels - Scotland    7) Andy_Li  
1, 2) Female  3) Nonbreeding male  4, 5,, 6) Breeding male



Wheatear,_Pied  Oenanthe pleschanka  Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
The male Pied Wheatear has mainly black upperparts; white underparts; white crown fringed with brown.
Image by: 1) Alastair Rae  2) Imrun_Shah - Pakistan  3) Vitalii_Khustochka - Ukraine  4) Boldbaatar_Jambaldorj - Mongolia
1) Female  2, 3) Male


Wheatear,_Red-breasted  Oenanthe bottae  Found: Eritrea, Ethiopia, southwest Saudi Arabia
The Red-breasted has dull red breast; black eye-line.
Image by: 1) Veli_Pohjonen - Ethiopia


Wheatear,_Red-rumped  Oenanthe moesta  Found: northern Africa
The male Red-rumped Wheatear has a black mantle, face, throat; gray crown, nape; white supercilium; rufous rmp; black tail. Female paler with rufous crown, cheeks.
Image by: 1) Mike_Prince  2, 4) Brendan_Ryan  3) Francesco_Veronesi 


Wheatear,_Red-tailed also Afghan Wheatear  Oenanthe chrysopygia  Found: northeast Africa, southwest Asia
The Red-tailed Wheatear has grayish-brown upperparts; grayish-white underparts; pale supercilium; faint white eye-ring; rufous tinge to ear-coverts; reddish rump, outer tail feathers. Male has black between eyes and bill. Used to be considered subspecies of Kurdish Wheatear.
Image by: 1) PksPks  2) Tarique_Sani  3) Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj


Wheatear,_Somali  Oenanthe phillipsi  Found: Ethiopia, Somalia
Image by: 1) John_Gerrard_Keulemans


Wheatear,_Variable  Oenanthe picata  Found: Asia
Image by: 1) As_kannan  2) Tarique Sani


Wheatear,_White-crowned  also  White-crowned Black Wheatear  Oenanthe leucopyga  Found: Africa
The White-crowned Wheatear has mainly black pluamge; white crown, rump, under-tail.
Image by:  1) Nir Ofir - Makhtesh Ramon, Israel  2) Hennie_Cuper  3) Sergey_Yeliseev



Genus Phoenicurus
Found in: Europe, Asia, Africa

Redstart,_Black   Phoenicurus ochruros Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
The male Black Redstart had mainly black upperparts; black breast; orange-red belly, rump, tail. Male belly may also be blackish-gray. Female is mainly gray or gray-brown; orange-red rump.
Image by:  1, 6) Stefan-Xp   2) Michael Apel    3) Frank Vassen in Poland  4, 5) Agustin_Povedano  7) Tarique_Sani - India  8) Cristiano Crolle - Introd, Italy
1 - 4) Female   5 - 8) Male



Redstart,_Blue-capped  Phoenicurus coeruleocephala  Found: Himalayas 
Image by: 1) Prateik_Kulkarni   2) Manish_Kumar  3) Ron_Knight  4) Dibyendu_Ash - India
1, 2) Female   3, 4) Male


Redstart,_Blue-fronted Phoenicurus frontalis  Found: Asia
The female is brownish-gray with paler underparts.
Image by: 1) Kannan_AS - India 2) J M Garg - Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh, India   3) Hiyashi_Haka   4) Aditi the Stargazer  5) Dibyendu_Ash

Redstart,_Common  Phoenicurus phoenicurus  Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
The breeding male Common Redstart has slate-gray upperparts, head; orange-chestnut rump, tail, flanks; white forehead; black throat, face. Female is brown with paler underparts.
Image by: 1) Ferran Pestaña - Spain  2) Jerzy_Strzelecki  3) Harold_Olsen_NTSU  4) Agustin_Povedano   5) Thomas Kraft  - Germany
1, 2) Female  3, 4) Male

Redstart,_Duarian  Phoenicurus auroreus  Found: temperate Asia
The male Duarian Redstart has mainly brownish-black back; white patch on wings; light gray crown, nape; black throat; orange underparts. Female has brown upperparts; paler underparts; smaller white patch on wings; orange rump, tail sides.
Image by: 1, 2) Darren Bellerby - Hong Kong  3) Takashi Hososhima  4, 5, Ainus  6) Laitche  7) Lin_Sun_Fong - Taiwan
1, 2, 3) Female  4 - 7) Male



Redstart,_Hodgson's  Phoenicurus hodgsoni  Found: Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal
Image by: 1) Shrikant_Rao - India   2) Jayanth Sharma  Bulan_Chakraborty  Dibyendu_Ash
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male


Redstart,_Luzon Water-  Phoenicurus bicolor also Rhyacornis bicolor  Found: Philippines
Image by: 1) Ely Teehankee  2) Francesco_Veronesi  2) Pete_Morris


Redstart,_Moussier's  Phoenicurus moussieri  Found: Atlas mountains of northwest Africa
The male Moussier's Redstart has black upperparts with white wing patch; black head with white arc on side of head; orange-red underparts. Female has pale brown upperparts, head; paler underpart than male.
Image by:orientalizing - Morocco  2) MPF  3) Gary_Clark - Morocco
1) Female 2, 3) Male


Redstart,_Plumbeous Water-  Phoenicurus fuliginosus   Found: Asia
The male Plumbeous Water Redstart has mainly slate-blue plumage; rusty-red tail. Female has gray plumage with a white rump.
Image by:  1) J. M. Garg - India   2) Shrikant_Rao - India 3, 4, 5) Imran_Shah - Pakistan  6) JJ Harrison -Thailand  7)) Kishore_Bhargava - India



Redstart,_Przevalski's  also Ala Shan Redstart  Phoenicurus alaschanicus  Found: China
Image by: 1) Bernd_Kirschner  2) John and Jemi Holmes 3) Terry_Townshend 4) Tang_Jun - China
2) Female 3, 4) Male


Redstart,_Rufous-backed  also  Eversmann's Redstart  Phoenicurus erythronotus  Found: mountains of central Asia
The breeding male Rufous-backed Redstart has rufous back; gray crown, nape; black mask; dark wings with white patches; mainly rufous underparts with white on belly. Nonbreeding males duller and browner.
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi - Kazakistan 2) Sergey_Yeliseev  3. 4) Imran_Shah - Pakistan


Redstart,_White-capped  Phoenicurus leucocephalus also   Chaimarrornis leucocephalus  Found: Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia
The White-capped Redstart is found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam.
Image by: 1) Ajiith U - India  2) Dibyendu_Ash - India  3) Naturelly  Frankie_Chu


Redstart,_White-throated  Phoenicurus schisticeps  Found: Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal
Image by: 1) Sheau_Lim 2) Prabhakarmanjunath  3) Dibyendu_Ash
1) Female 2, 3) Male


Redstart,_White-winged  also Guldenstadt’s  Redstart  Phoenicurus erythrogastrus  Found: Asia
The male White-winged Redstart has mainly black upperparts; white wing patch; white crown; black throat, upper-breast; orange-red rest of underparts. Female has pale brown upperparts; orange-tinged buff underparts.
Image by: 1) Sergey_Pisarevskiy - Russia  2) Francesco_Veronesi   3, 4) Imran_Shah - Pakistan
1) Female 2, 3) Male








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