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Mourning wheatear

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Mourning Wheatear
Scientific classification
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O. lugens
Binomial name
Oenanthe lugens
(Lichtenstein, 1823)

The Mourning Wheatear (Oenanthe lugens) is a bird, one of 14 species of wheatear found in the Palearctic region. It is a small passerine that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be part of the Old World Flycather family Muscicapidae.

The Mourning Wheatear was first described by Lichenstein in 1823. It is an elegant and strikingly beautiful bird found in semi-desert areas in North Africa and the Middle East. It is sexually dimorphic with the females sporting more subtle plumage.

An intriguing dark morph of Mourning Wheatear (so called Basalt Wheatear) occurs in Jordan and Israel.

Panov (Wheatears of Palearctic, 2005) discusses the latest taxonomy for the Mourning Wheatear superspecies.

Mourning Wheatear is split from Schalow's Wheatear which is the species found south of the Sahara.

It has been recorded in the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

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