| Wheatears are summer visitors to the United Kingdom having
spent the winter south of the Sahara desert in Africa. Some make amazing
journeys; from Africa to breeding grounds in Greenland, while others fly
across Asia and nest in Alaska. Those that nest here in the United Kingdom
breed mostly in the west and north though a few nest in south-east England.
It can often be seen around the coast of Devon and Cornwall and on the moors.
It prefers pasture land which has been grazed where it finds its food of
insects and larvae. It is an attractive bird especially the males with their
spring plumage of blue-grey backs, sandy coloured chest and black eye masks.
Females and juveniles are paler with browner upper-parts and usually lack
the dark eye patch. They all possess a short black tail which has an inverted
black T shape which contrasts with a white rump. |
