Other Names (World)
Mourning Wheatear, Arabian Wheatear, South Arabian Wheatear, Abyssinian Black Wheatear, Schalow's Wheatear (schalowi), East African Wheatear (schalowi)
Family
Muscicapidae (Old World Flycatchers And Chats)
Mourning Wheatear (Oenanthe lugens) [XC732869]
by Frank Lambert from Hegra, AlUla, Al Madinah Province, Saudi Arabia (song)
Mourning Wheatear (Oenanthe lugens) [XC836937]
by id from Ramat Negev Regional Council, Southern District, Israel (song)
Subspecies
Mourning Wheatear (Oenanthe lugens) and Schalow's Wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) have been lumped into Oenanthe lugens following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993).
Has been treated as conspecific with Finsch's Wheatear (Oenanthe finschii).
Taxonomy complex. Subspecies fall into four basic groups, each of which could possibly be treated as a separate species: "nominate group" (also including halophila and persica); "lugentoides group" (with boscaweni); "lugubris group" (with vauriei); and single-taxon "schalowi group". Pending extensive sampling of vocal, behavioural and ecological evidence, all groups are considered better retained within one polytypic species.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
halophila (Tristram, 1859) - Northern Africa east to western Egypt (west of R Nile).
lugens (Lichtenstein, 1823) - Syria, Israel, Jordan and north-western Arabia south to eastern Egypt and north-eastern Sudan.
persica (Seebohm, 1881) - North-central, west-central and south-western Iran. Non-breeding Arabia and north-eastern Africa.
lugentoides (Seebohm, 1881) - Southern Arabian Peninsula. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Arabian Wheatear (Oenanthe lugentoides).
boscaweni Bates, 1937 - North-western Yemen and southern Oman. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Arabian Wheatear (Oenanthe lugentoides).
lugubris (Rüppell, 1837) - Eastern Africa. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Schalow's Wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris).
vauriei Meinertzhagen, 1949 - North-eastern Somalia. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Schalow's Wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris).
schalowi (Fischer and Reichenow, 1884) - Southern Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Schalow's Wheatear (Oenanthe lugubris).
warriae Shirihai & Kirwan, 2011 - Basalt desert of eastern Jordan and southern Syria.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet