Cyprus Wheatear

The Cyprus wheatear or Cyprus pied wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca) is a small, 14–15 cm long passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae.

This migratory insectivorous species breeds only in Cyprus, and winters in southern Sudan and Ethiopia. It has been recorded as a vagrant on Heligoland, Germany,

The song is distinctive, and very different from that of pied wheatear, resembling an insect. It consists of a series of high-pitched buzzing bursts.

The song-perches utilised by this species are high for a wheatear, typically being 5 to 10 m above ground. It often breeds in woodland habitats, unlike other wheatears. It is the most arboreal species of wheatear in the western palearctic and it uses often aerial sallying and perch-pounce-feeding tactics. Recent work suggest an ecological differentiation between Cyprus wheatear and migrating northern wheatears O. oenanthe and black-eared wheatears O. hispanica melanoleuca. Cyprus wheatear uses more aerial sallying and occupies more forested habitats, but needs a minimum amount of open/bare ground, and a minimum of high bush/tree vegetation.