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

In Sussex, on the contrary, the wheatear is as regularly seen as the blackbird; and in the spring and summer you cannot go for a walk without finding them.

From The Hills and the Vale by Richard Jefferies

For the year is never gone by; in a moment we can recall the sunshine we enjoyed in May, the roses we gathered in June, the first wheatear we plucked as the green corn filled.

From Nature Near London by Richard Jefferies

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

A mile away, I know a flinty waste beloved of the wheatear and the locust.

From The Life of the fly; with which are interspersed some chapters of autobiography by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos

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