Birds of the World

Turdidae : Thrushes & Chats

Isabelline Wheatear

Oenanthe isabellina

juvenile - Bratzigovo, Bulgaria - June 2007

Isabelline Wheatear is a central Asian species whose extreme western limit only just reaches into Europe in Bulgaria and north-eastern Greece.

adult outside nest hole - Tazha, Bulgaria - June 2007

They use the abandoned burrows of ground-dwelling rodents, such as Sousliks, for their nests.

Tazha, Bulgaria - June 2007

Open water is rare in their prefered habitat of dry, steppe grasslands, but they take advantage of it for a bath and a drink when it is available. The bird below was distracted from its post-bath preen by a hoverfly flying by...

watching a hoverfly - Bratzigovo, Bulgaria - June 2007

Lesvos, Greece - May 2006