wheatear

American  

[hweet-eer, weet-] / ˈʰwitˌɪər, ˈwit- /

noun

1. any of several small, chiefly Old World thrushes of the genus Oenanthe, having a distinctive white rump, especially O. oenanthe, of Eurasia and North America.

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wheatear British  

/ ˈwiːtˌɪə /

noun

1. any small northern songbird of the genus Oenanthe, esp O. oenanthe, a species having a pale grey back, black wings and tail, white rump, and pale brown underparts: subfamily Turdinae (thrushes)

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Etymology

Origin of wheatear

1585–95; probably back formation from wheatears, for *whiteers white rump. See white, arse

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wheatear

Even more amazing, geologgers show that another small songbird, the northern wheatear, migrates from North America to sub-Saharan Africa.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2022

Hence his references to Celsus and Hippocrates and his ingenious etymologies of wheatear and samphire, more ingenious in the second case than sound.

From Travels through France and Italy by T. (Tobias) Smollett

The hills are a paradise for birds; the practice of snaring the wheatear for market has lately fallen into desuetude and the "Sussex ortolan" is becoming more numerous than it was a dozen years ago.

From Seaward Sussex The South Downs from End to End by Edric Holmes

There is not a quail, not a blackbird, not the smallest rabbit nor even the tiniest wheatear.

From Tartarin De Tarascon by Oliver C. Colt

Chat, chat, n. a genus of small birds in the thrush family, of which the wheatear is a familiar example.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various