Thrushes (Turdidae)

Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) - HBW 10, p. 803

French: Traquet du désert German: Wüstensteinschmätzer Spanish: Collalba Desértica

Taxonomy: Saxicola deserti Temminck, 1825, Egypt.
Several races in C of range sometimes discriminated (salina and atrogularis) but distinctions very slight, and better treated as synonyms of nominate. Boundaries of races not well established; details listed below provisional. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • homochroa (Tristram, 1859) - N Africa (including once Mauritania) E to NW Egypt; non-breeding Sahara and N Sahel (Mauritania E to Chad).
  • deserti (Temminck, 1825) - NE Egypt and Levant E, discontinuously, to Azerbaijan (probably Armenia), S Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Mongolia; non-breeding NE Africa (including Socotra I) and SW Asia.
  • oreophila (Oberholser, 1900) - Kashmir E to Nepal, Pamir, Tibetan Plateau and W China (S Xinjiang); non-breeding Arabia, SW Asia and NW & C India.