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The Atlas wheatear (''Oenanthe seebohmi''), also known as the black-throated wheatear or Seebohm's wheatear, is a small
passerine bird A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...
which breeds in the
Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
region of North Africa and winters in the western
Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...
. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the
northern wheatear The northern wheatear or wheatear (''Oenanthe oenanthe'') is 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 the ...
(''O. oenanthe'') as ''O. o. seebohmi'', but was reclassified as a distinct species by the
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
in 2021.


Taxonomy

Seebohm's wheatear was formerly regarded as the North African subspecies of the widespread Northern wheatear of Eurasia,
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
and northern North America, however, it is now regarded as a full species. Atlas wheatear has been proposed as the English common name for this species by the
International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...
.


Description

Adult male Atlas wheatears in breeding are very distinctive when compared to northern wheatear, having a black throat, face, lores and ear coverts, sometimes extending to the uppermost part of the breast, occasionally with some buff mixed in. Upperparts are similar to adult male Northern wheatear but sometimes has more white on the forehead and less extensive area of black on the tip of the tail where the white colour may extend along the outer tail. The axillaries and underwing coverts are black and the underparts are often whiter than in northern wheatear. After the post-breeding moult the upperparts are pale brown with the wing coverts, primaries, secondaries and tertials finely tipped with buff while the greater coverts show whitish tips. The fresh black throat is spotted with paler tips to the feathers and the breast has a buffish tinge. The females are variable from closely resembling the females of the nominate subspecies or showing brown ear coverts and having black or blackish-brown colour over the chin and lores tipped with buff, grey or sandy colour. The upperparts are greyer, often similar to the adult male, although may show a more buffy shade.


Voice

The Atlas wheatear's song is slightly slower and lower pitched than that of the northern wheatear, with its melodious rising and falling phrases being more distinct than in Northern. Calls are otherwise similar to the northern wheatear.


Distribution and population

The Atlas wheatear has a disjunct breeding range in north western Africa in north-eastern
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
where it breeds in the
Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...
, the
Middle Atlas The Middle Atlas (Amazigh: ⴰⵟⵍⴰⵙ ⴰⵏⴰⵎⵎⴰⵙ, ''Atlas Anammas'', Arabic: الأطلس المتوسط, ''al-Aṭlas al-Mutawassiṭ'') is a mountain range in Morocco. It is part of the Atlas mountain range, a mountainous region ...
, the
High Atlas High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الكبير, Al-Aṭlas al-Kabīr; french: Haut Atlas; shi, ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⴷⵔⵏ ''Adrar n Dern''), is a mountain range in central Morocco, North Africa, the highest part of t ...
and central
Anti Atlas The Anti-Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الصغير, shi, Aṭlas Mẓẓiyn), also known as Lesser Atlas or Little Atlas is a mountain range in Morocco, a part of the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of Africa. The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlanti ...
mountains with another population in north-eastern
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
in the
Aurès Mountains The Aures Mountains ( ar, جبال الأوراس) are an eastern prolongation of the Atlas Mountain System that lies to the east of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria and northwestern Tunisia, North Africa. The mountain range gives its nam ...
and in the
Djurdjura Range The Djurdjura or Jurjura Range ( ar, جبال جرجرة, ''Jabal Jurjura''; Berber ''Adrar n Jerjer'') is a mountain range of the Tell Atlas, part of the Atlas Mountain System. It is located in Kabylie, Algeria. Geography The Djurdjura is a m ...
. It winters in the western
Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...
, mainly in south-western
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
, northern
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
and western
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
with smaller numbers in central Mali and some seen at times in winter in southern Morocco. The bulk of the population winters between 15–18°N and 09–16°W. It is estimated that 50,000 Seebohm's wheatears winter in west Africa where they overlap with Northern wheatears.


Habitat

The Atlas wheatear breeds in mountains on stony plataeux and sparsely vegetated slopes with scattered boulders between 1,700 and 2,300m, although may breed as low as 150m in Algeria. It nests in holes in the ground or between boulders. It winters in open areas of semi-arid savanna although it favours the more humid Guinea savanna with scattered trees such as
acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
, ''
Balanites ''Balanites'' is an Afrotropical, Palearctic and Indomalayan genus of flowering plants in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae. The name ''Balanites'' derives from the Greek word for an acorn and refers to the fruit, it was coined by Alire Del ...
'' and '' Salvadora'' over more arid regions nearer the edge of the desert.


References


External links

Recordings at Xeno-Canto http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Oenanthe-oenanthe?query=ssp:%22seebohmi%22{{Taxonbar, from=Q27632701 Wheatears Birds of North Africa Birds described in 1882