Isabelline Wheatear
Oenanthe isabellina
The isabelline wheatear is a migratory insectivorous bird. Its habitat is steppe and open countryside and it breeds in southern Russia and central Asia to Northern Pakistan, wintering in Africa and northwestern India. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
In coloring it resembles a female northern wheatear but it is larger at 6.5 in in length, more upright and more tawny in colour, and has more black on its tail. The term isabelline refers to the parchment-like coloration. The axillaries and underwing coverts are white, whereas in the commoner bird they are mottled with grey. The sexes are similar.
