Oenanthe cypriaca

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Telluraves
Cladus: Australaves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Passerida
Superfamilia: Muscicapoidea

Familia: Muscicapidae
Genus: Oenanthe
Species: Oenanthe cypriaca
Name

Oenanthe cypriaca (Homeyer, 1884)
References

Zeitschrift Für Die Gesammte Ornithologie. 1: 397

Vernacular names
العربية: أبلق قبرصي
català: Còlit de Xipre
English: Cyprus Wheatear
Esperanto: Kipra enanto
suomi: Kyproksentasku
français: Traquet de Chypre
magyar: Ciprusi hantmadár
polski: Białorzytka cypryjska

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. It was formerly treated as a subspecies (race) of pied wheatear but Sluys and van den Berg (1982)[2] argued that the form deserved full species status, on the basis of differences in biometrics and especially song, and the lack of sexual plumage dimorphism in cypriaca.

This migratory insectivorous species breeds only in Cyprus, and winters in southern Sudan and Ethiopia.[3] It has been recorded as a vagrant on Heligoland, Germany.[4]

This species closely resembles pied wheatear, although it has slightly more black on the tail and back, and on the head. The sexes are similar in appearance, a fact first documented by Christensen (1974).[5] A 2010 study found that Cyprus wheatear differs from pied wheatear in fourteen external morphometric characters.[4]

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.[6]

The song-perches utilised by this species are high for a wheatear, typically being 5 to 10 metres above ground. It often breeds in woodland habitats, unlike other wheatears (Oliver 1990[7] suggested that it occupies the ecological niche used elsewhere in the Western Palearctic by the common redstart). 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 (Randler et al. 2009[8]).

References

BirdLife International (2019). "Oenanthe cypriaca". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22710312A155607749. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710312A155607749.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
Ronald Sluys, Martin van den Berg (1982 )On the Specific Status of the Cyprus Pied Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca Ornis Scandinavica, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 123–128
"RSPB Mass killing continues on British military base in Cyprus". BirdGuides. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
Marc I. Förschler, Christoph Randler, Jochen Dierschke & Franz Bairlein, 2010. Morphometric diagnosability of Cyprus Wheatears Oenanthe cypriaca and an unexpected occurrence on Helgoland Island. Bird Study, Volume 57, Issue 3 August 2010 , pages 396–400.
Christensen, Steen (1974) Notes on the plumage of female Cyprus Pied Wheatear Ornis. Scand. 5:47–52
Bergman, H. H. (1983) Some peculiarities of Cyprus bird voices. Cyprus Ornithological Society (1969) Bird Report 8:41–54
Oliver, P. J. (1990) Observations on the Cyprus Pied Wheatear Sandgrouse 12:25–30

Randler, C.,Teichmann, C., & Pentzold, S. (2009) Breeding habitat preference and foraging of the Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca and niche partitioning in comparison with migrant Oenanthe species on Cyprus. Journal of Ornithology 151:113–121. 10.1007/s10336-009-0432-0