Northern Wheatear

Oenanthe oenanthe

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered

KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
PhylumChordata (Chordates)
ClassAves (Birds)
OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
FamilyMuscicapidae (Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats)
GenusOenanthe (Wheatears and Allies)
SpeciesOenanthe oenanthe (Northern Wheatear)

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

at Plitvice Lakes National Park

3 Verified sightings at Plitvice Lakes National Park From 2019 to 2026

13,399 Verified sightings across all 58 parks From 2019 to 2026

☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

About the Northern Wheatear

The northern wheatear or wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It is the most widespread member of the wheatear genus Oenanthe in Europe and North and Central Asia. The northern wheatear is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in open stony country in Europe and east across the Palearctic with footholds in northeastern Canada and Greenland as well as in northwestern Canada and Alaska. It nests in rock crevices and rabbit burrows. All birds spend most of their winter in Africa.

The northern wheatear belongs to a distinctive group of Old World flycatchers, known as chats, that were formerly thought to be thrushes. Genetic analysis showed that they were in fact a type of flycatcher (Muscicapidae), with the resemblance to thrushes being the result of convergent evolution. The northern wheatear was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae as Motacilla oenanthe. The species is now placed in the genus Oenanthe that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816. The generic name, Oenanthe, is also the... Wikipedia →

Closest Relatives at Plitvice Lakes National Park

Oenanthe hispanica

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Erithacus rubecula

Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely

Phoenicurus ochruros

Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely

Ficedula albicollis

Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible

Muscicapa striata

Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible

Saxicola rubetra

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Luscinia megarhynchos

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Saxicola rubicola

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Ficedula hypoleuca

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Ficedula parva

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Fringilla coelebs

Daily sighting probability ~90% · Very likely

See all 12 relatives Show fewer

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

#	Park	Country	Daily sighting probability
1	Hohe Tauern National Park	🇦🇹 Austria	~40%
2	Vanoise National Park	🇫🇷 France	~40%
3	Aigüestortes National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	~30%
4	Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	~30%
5	Mercantour National Park	🇫🇷 France	~30%
6	Picos de Europa National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	~30%
7	Kidepo Valley National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	~20%
8	Ecrins National Park	🇫🇷 France	~20%
9	Cévennes National Park	🇫🇷 France	~20%
10	Pyrénées National Park	🇫🇷 France	~20%
11	Awash National Park	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	~20%
12	Samburu National Reserve	🇰🇪 Kenya	~20%
13	Nairobi National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	~10%
14	Wadden Sea National Park	🇩🇪 Germany	~10%
15	Tsavo West National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	~10%
16	Meru National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	~10%
17	Gates of the Arctic National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
18	Sierra de Guadarrama National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	~10%
19	Masai Mara National Reserve	🇰🇪 Kenya	~10%
20	Hortobágy National Park	🇭🇺 Hungary	~10%
21	Serengeti National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	~10%
22	Cairngorms National Park	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	~10%
23	Amboseli National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	~10%
24	Snowdonia National Park	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	~10%
25	Ngorongoro Conservation Area	🇹🇿 Tanzania	~10%
26	Tsavo East National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	~10%
27	Sierra Nevada National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	~10%
28	Murchison Falls National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	~10%
29	Fertő-Hanság National Park	🇭🇺 Hungary	~10%
30	Kiskunság National Park	🇭🇺 Hungary	~10%
31	Lake Nakuru National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	~10%
32	Biebrza National Park	🇵🇱 Poland	~10%
33	Doñana National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	~10%
34	Vatnajokull National Park	🇮🇸 Iceland	~10%
35	Thingvellir National Park	🇮🇸 Iceland	~10%
36	Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park	🇲🇳 Mongolia	~10%
37	Triglav National Park	🇸🇮 Slovenia	~10%
38	Aberdare National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	<5%
39	Camargue	🇫🇷 France	<5%
40	Gauja National Park	🇱🇻 Latvia	<5%
41	Białowieża National Park	🇵🇱 Poland	<5%
42	Mkomazi National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	<5%
43	Monfragüe National Park	🇪🇸 Spain	<5%
44	Ruaha National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	<5%
45	Tatra National Park	🇸🇰 Slovakia	<5%
46	Tarangire National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	<5%
47	Denali National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
48	Bavarian Forest National Park	🇩🇪 Germany	<5%
49	Queen Elizabeth National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	<5%
50	Virunga National Park	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	<5%
51	Bale Mountains National Park	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	Insufficient data
52	Arusha National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	Insufficient data
53	Plitvice Lakes National Park	🇭🇷 Croatia	Insufficient data
54	Liwonde National Park	🇲🇼 Malawi	Insufficient data
55	Addo Elephant National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
56	Lake Manyara National Park	🇹🇿 Tanzania	Insufficient data
57	Lake Mburo National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	Insufficient data
58	Kluane National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	Insufficient data

← Back to Plitvice Lakes National Park

Northern Wheatear

About the Northern Wheatear

Closest Relatives at Plitvice Lakes National Park

Western Black-eared Wheatear

European Robin

Black Redstart

Collared Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Common Nightingale

European Stonechat

Common Redstart

European Pied Flycatcher

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Chaffinch

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found