Black Wheatear

SCI Name:  Oenanthe leucura
Protonym:  (Turdus) leucurus Syst.Nat. 1 pt2 p.820
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Muscicapidae / Oenanthe
Taxonomy Code:  blawhe1
Type Locality:  Gibraltar.
Author:  Gmelin, JF
Publish Year:  1789
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

OENANTHE
(Muscicapidae; Ϯ Northern Wheatear O. oenanthe) Specific name Motacilla oenanthe Linnaeus, 1758; "MOTTEUX, Œnanthe.  Motacilla, Linn.  Silvia et Turdus, Lath.  Bec plus haut que large à la base, droit, très-fendu; mandibule supérieure un peu obtuse, courbée et échancrée à la pointe; l'inférieure plus courte, droite, pointue. — Ailes à penne batarde; la deuxième remige la plus longue.   Esp. Motteux, Buff. — Turdus leucurus, Lath." (Vieillot 1816); "Oenanthe Vieillot, 1816, Analyse, p. 43. Type, by monotypy, "Motteux" Buffon = Turdus leucurus Gmelin." (Ripley in Peters 1964, X, 121); "OENANTHE Vieillot, 1816  F — "Le Motteux" Buffon; type by tautonymy = Motacilla oenanthe Linnaeus, 1758" (Dickinson & Christidis (eds.) 2014, 610).
Var. Oeanthe, Ananthe, Aenante, Aenanthe.
Synon. Campicola, Cercomela, Leucotoa, Penthodyta, Pentholaea, Philothamna, Saxicola, Sciocincla, Vitiflora.

oenanthe
L. oenanthe  wheatear  < Gr. οινανθη oinanthē  unidentified bird mentioned by Aristotle, from its appearance in the vintage season  < οινη oinē  vine; ανθος anthos  bloom, associated with the wheatear by later authors; "99. MOTACILLA. ...  Oenanthe.  17. M. dorso cano, fronte alba, oculorum fascia nigra. Fn. svec. 217.  Oenanthe s. Vitiflora. Jonst. av. 123. t. 45. f. 13. Will. orn. 168. t. 41. f. 4. Raj. av. 75. n. 1. Alb. av. I. p. 53. t. 55.  β. Motacilla subtus pallida, rectricibus introrsum albis, dorso undulato. Fn. svec. 219.  Oenanthes vitifloræ femina. Alb. av. 3. p. 50. t. 54.  Habitat in Europæ apricis lapidosis.  Sexu & ætate varia: cessante nocturno frigore advenit." (Linnaeus 1758) (Oenanthe).

leucura
Gr. λευκουρος leukouros  white-tailed  < λευκος leukos  white; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura tail.
● (J. Gmelin 1789) ex “White-tailed Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Myiomela leucura).
● ex “White-tailed Thrush” of Latham 1783 (Oenanthe).
● ex “Gros-bec du Canada” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 135, fig. 1 (subsp. Pinicola enucleator).
● ex “Black Sandpiper” of Pennant 1768, and Latham 1787 (syn. Tringa ochropus). 

SUBSPECIES

Black Wheatear (leucura)
SCI Name: Oenanthe leucura leucura
leucura
Gr. λευκουρος leukouros  white-tailed  < λευκος leukos  white; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura tail.
● (J. Gmelin 1789) ex “White-tailed Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Myiomela leucura).
● ex “White-tailed Thrush” of Latham 1783 (Oenanthe).
● ex “Gros-bec du Canada” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 135, fig. 1 (subsp. Pinicola enucleator).
● ex “Black Sandpiper” of Pennant 1768, and Latham 1787 (syn. Tringa ochropus). 

Black Wheatear (riggenbachi)
SCI Name: Oenanthe leucura riggenbachi
riggenbachi
Fritz Wilhelm Riggenbach (1864-1944) Swiss collector in north-west Africa and tropical West Africa (syn. Accipiter badius, syn. Campethera punctuligera, subsp. Crithagra leucopygia, subsp. Galerida cristata, subsp. Indicator minor, subsp. Oenanthe leucura, subsp. Phalacrocorax aristotelis, syn. Salpornis salvadori emini).