Oenanthe hispanica
Silhouette: Mathieu Pélissié · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The western black-eared wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica) is a wheatear, a small migratory passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher (family Muscicapidae). It was formerly (and still is by some authorities) considered conspecific with the eastern black-eared wheatear.
The breeding male has the forehead and crown white or nearly white, the mantle buff, and the wings blacker than those of the northern wheatear. The underparts are white tinged with buff. The back, upper tail coverts and most of the tail are white. A black mask extends from the ear coverts to the bill. The throat can be either black or white.
In autumn and winter the head and mantle are distinctly buff, as are the underparts (including the throat in non-black-throated individuals), but the buff varies in intensity. Except for the central pair, the tail feathers are much whiter than in the northern wheatear, the white on the inner web often extending to the tip.
The female is a browner bird, but has the characteristic white lower back, and her seasonal changes are less marked. The male western black-eared wheatear... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Black-eared Wheatear sighting in Ramallah on a given day, based on 28 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 66th most-seen of the 118 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Western Black-eared Wheatear in Ramallah on a given day, against under 5% in July and November–March, the lowest months. Those are among Ramallah's driest months, with almost no rain against 90 mm in January.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Black-eared Wheatear sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 8 cities where we can rate Western Black-eared Wheatear sightings, Ramallah has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Ankara (Turkey, under 5%) and Tel Aviv (Israel, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Black-eared Wheatear is recorded against all the birds logged in Ramallah (28 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
