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

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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

Mr. Godman also shot a single specimen of the wheatear in Flores after a strong gale of wind, and as no one on the island knew the bird, it was almost certainly a recent arrival.

From Island Life Or the Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras by Alfred Russel Wallace

While talking, a wheatear flew past, and alighted near the path—a place they frequent.

From Nature Near London by Richard Jefferies

From unseen places birds began to sing—the wheatear in the crevices of the rocks, the sedge-warbler among the rushes of the rivers.

From The Scapegoat; a romance and a parable by Sir Hall Caine

THE WHEATEAR.—The wheatear is an annual visitor of England: it arrives about the middle of March and leaves in September.

From The Book of Household Management by Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton

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