---
title: "Desert Wheatear"
description: "Oenanthe deserti — Birds. The desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae)."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/desert-wheatear
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Desert Wheatear

> Oenanthe deserti — Birds. The desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae).

- Scientific name: *Oenanthe deserti*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `desert` (Desert)
- iNaturalist observations: 2676
- Wikidata: [Q769934](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q769934)
- iNaturalist taxon: [12842](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/12842)

## Names

- en: Desert Wheatear
- de: Wüstensteinschmätzer
- es: Collalba Desértica
- fr: Traquet du désert
- pt: Chasco-do-deserto
- pl: Białorzytka pustynna

## Countries with the most observations

IN (455), MA (312), RU (257), OM (138), MN (119), AE (93), DZ (91), KZ (87), CN (83), IL (73), FR (67), EG (64)

## Summary

The desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). It is a migratory insectivorous species, 14.5 to 15 cm (5.7 to 5.9 in) in length. Both western and eastern forms of the desert wheatear are rare vagrants to western Europe. The western desert wheatear breeds in the Sahara and the northern Arabian Peninsula. The eastern race is found in the semi-deserts of Central Asia and in winter in Pakistan and northeast Africa.
The plumage of the upper…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_wheatear

## Photo

![Desert Wheatear](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/desert-wheatear/medium.jpg)

Photo: Лариса Артемьева · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/116021297

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/desert-wheatear?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).