Abyssinian Wheatear

About the Abyssinian Wheatear

The Abyssinian wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris), or Abyssinian black wheatear, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae, the Old World flycatchers and chats. It is found from Ethiopia to southern Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania.

The Abyssinian wheatear was first formally described in 1837 as Saxicola lugubris by the German naturalist and explorer Eduard Rüppell with its type locality given as "the rocky valleys of the Abyssinian province of Simien, and on the volcanic hills around Gondar" (Vorkommen in der felsigen Thälern der Abyssinischen provinz Simen, und auf der vulkanischen Hügeln um Gondar). It is regarded, by some authorities, as being the same species as the mourning wheatear (Oenanthe lugens) of Northern Africa and the Middle East but the I.O.C. regard it as a valid species. The Abyssinian wheatear is regarded as closely related to the Arabian wheatear (Oenanthe lugentoides), which has also been regarded as being the same species as the mourning wheatear. These species may form a species complex.

The I.O.C. recognises the following subspecies: Oenanthe lugubris lugubris (Rüppell, 1837) Oenanthe lugubris schalowi (Fischer & Reichenow... Wikipedia →