Monday, December 17, 2018

Black Wheatear

Several years ago in the Moroccan Erg Chebbi Desert I got photos of this small black bird that looked like the familiar black phoebe of the western U.S. I spent a fair amount of time trying to identify it and it was only after I went through a list of birds of North Africa, looking at a picture on each link, that I found it, almost the last bird on the list.  
Black wheatear
The black wheatear breeds on cliffs and rocky slopes in western North Africa and Iberia and nests in crevices in rocks. This male is all black, including legs, feet and bill, except for a white rump and mostly white tail. The eyes are dark brown. The female is similar, but brown where the male is black. It mainly eats insects. 

No comments:

Post a Comment