Arctic Birds: Northern Wheatear

Northern Wheatear male perches in a boulder field on its breeding territory near Anaktuvuk Pass.

NPS/Jared Hughey

Oenanthe oenanthe
Family: Muscicapidae

The Northern Wheatear is one of Gates of the Arctic’s most remarkable visitors. In February, it is wrapping up its winter stay under the tropical sun of sub-Saharan Africa, and by the end of May, it has made its way back to the park’s tundra slopes, still partially covered in snow, to breed.

Species Profile

Breeding habitat: Breeds in alpine tundra where rocky slopes and boulder fields provide nesting habitat. The nest itself is well hidden and protected from the elements within a crevice of a boulder pile.

Where to find in the park: Found across much of the park in areas with both alpine tundra and boulder fields.

Migration: Long-distance migrant, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Amazingly, the subspecies that breeds in Alaska and northwest Canada heads west from Alaska through Eurasia to reach Kenya and Tanzania, a 9,000-mile journey, while the subspecies that breeds in Greenland and the eastern Canadian Arctic heads to the east across the Atlantic Ocean, then south through western Europe and the Sahara to settle in western Africa. The opposing movements of these subspecies hint at the continental ice sheets that once posed barriers to migration and interbreeding of the two populations.

Behavior: The Northern Wheatear’s song is complex and composed of a variety of crackling and popping sounds and, like the Bluethroat, the mimicked vocalizations of other bird species.

Interesting fact: The name wheatear comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “hwit-oers” which refers to the bird’s white “rump”.

Conservation and management: The Northern Wheatear’s large and widely distributed global population is not considered to be of conservation concern.

Northern Wheatear abundance in North America

Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, M. Strimas-Mackey, O. Robinson, S. Ligocki, W. Hochachka, C. Wood, I. Davies, M. Iliff, L. Seitz. 2020. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2019; Released: 2020. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.

References

Dunn, E. H., D. J. T. Hussell, J. Kren, and A. C. Zoerb (2020). Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), version 2.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, B. K. Keeney, and S. M. Billerman, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi-org.arlis.idm.oclc.org/10.2173/bow.norwhe.02

Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, M. Strimas-Mackey, O. Robinson, S. Ligocki, W. Hochachka, C. Wood, I. Davies, M. Iliff, L. Seitz. 2020. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2019; Released: 2020. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. https://doi.org/10.2173/ebirdst.2019