---
title: "White-crowned Wheatear"
description: "Oenanthe leucopyga — Birds. The white-crowned wheatear, or white-crowned black wheatear (Oenanthe leucopyga) 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/white-crowned-wheatear
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# White-crowned Wheatear

> Oenanthe leucopyga — Birds. The white-crowned wheatear, or white-crowned black wheatear (Oenanthe leucopyga) 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 leucopyga*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `desert` (Desert)
- iNaturalist observations: 1919
- Wikidata: [Q912081](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q912081)
- iNaturalist taxon: [12832](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/12832)

## Names

- en: White-crowned Wheatear
- de: Saharasteinschmätzer
- es: Collalba negra de Brehm
- fr: Traquet à tête blanche
- pt: Chasco-de-barrete-branco
- pl: Białorzytka saharyjska

## Countries with the most observations

MA (674), DZ (338), IL (243), EG (198), JO (109), SA (92), TN (44), MR (25), EH (21), TD (17), PS (14), FR (5)

## Summary

The white-crowned wheatear, or white-crowned black wheatear (Oenanthe leucopyga) 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.

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

## Photo

![White-crowned Wheatear](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/white-crowned-wheatear/medium.jpg)

Photo: Aiken Lau · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194962041

## Machine access

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