Oenanthe picata
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The variable wheatear (Oenanthe picata) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.
Its natural habitat is hot deserts. The variable wheatear is a bird of arid and semi-arid region, and is locally abundant in barren rocky areas, sand dunes with scrub vegetation, cultivation, ravines, outside villages and nomadic encampments.
It is polymorphic and has three distinct morphs. Black-bellied phase (opistholeuca). Male (adult). Entirely jet black except rump, under tail-coverts, base and sides of tail which are white; central rectrices and terminal band of tail black. Female has black parts replaced by sooty black.
White-bellied phase (picata) Male (adult). Like the preceding but belly white. Female similar to male but black parts replaced by grayish brown; belly more buffish. White-crowned phase (capistrata). Male (adult). Like picata, with white belly and black throat, but crown and nape white. Female similar to male but black parts and crown earthy brown; belly more buffish.
The geographical dominance... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Wheatear sighting in Ranthambore National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 231st most-seen of the 251 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Wheatear in Ranthambore National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Variable Wheatear sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Ranthambore National Park, in our data
Ranthambore National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Variable Wheatear sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Variable Wheatear is recorded against all the birds logged in Ranthambore National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
