Thrushes (Turdidae)

Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) - HBW 10, p. 798

French: Traquet pie German: Nonnensteinschmätzer Spanish: Collalba Pía
Other common names: Common Pied Wheatear, Pleschanka’s Wheatear

Taxonomy: Motacilla pleschanka Lepechin, 1770, Saratov, lower Volga, south-west Russia.
Has been treated under name O. leucomela, but current name has priority. Probably forms a superspecies with O. cypriaca; formerly considered conspecific, but vocally very different. Sometimes considered conspecific with O. hispanica; the two hybridize where breeding ranges overlap, with no evidence of assortative mating, and possibly better reunited as one species. Monotypic.

Distribution: SE Europe E, discontinuously, to S Urals, Transbaikalia, C & W Afghanistan, N Pakistan, NW Himalayas and N China; non-breeding NE Africa and SW Arabian Peninsula.