Finsch's vs Variable Wheatear - Uzbekistan? (1 Viewer)

[Perangua]

What is your opinion - Oenanthe finschii or O.picata? We saw this bird in Kyzylkum desert (Uzbekistan) just after the snow on 19 February 2024. The winter has been very hot before that. O.picata should not be here in winter, but there were many species present that shouldn't be (Hoopoe, Hume's Warbler, etc.).
It is a quite tricky female, we could see it moving the tail up and down when staying on the ground. Please look at tail pattern, primary projection, bill size...

 

[Perangua]

Any online guide to wheatears?

 

[Brian J Small]

IMHO this is a Finsch's Wheatear.

Female Variable can be pale, but is still duskier than this about the head, notably on the throat extending on to breast - whereas here the throat is as pale as the rest of the underparts.

There is often a fairly obvious pale winge bar on great coverts extendng to primary coverts on Finsch's (Variable lacks this), which is also perhaps visible here.

Brian

 

[Grahame Walbridge]

Any online guide to wheatears?

No, not speficically, but eBird is always a good resource. The best reference is Shirihai & Svensson Handbook of West Palearctic Birds (2018) IMHO.

Agree with Brian, the combination of uniformly pale underparts i.e lacking any dusky or warmer buff tones to throat and breast in combination with the greater covert wing bar is a perfect match for female Finsch's. Seems that confusion is most likely, in this instance (and more generally), with female pale-throated 'Gould's' (capistrata), the palest form and in which pale-throated birds predominate, the throat and breast being greyish-buff or warmer, pinkish-buff. There seems to be too much variation in tail pattern, consequently creating much overlap, for it be a useful feature.

Presumed pale fem Gould's Wheatear Variable (Oenanthe picata) female - India - World Bird Photos probably as close to Finsch's as you get, but note in particular, absence of posterior wing bar.

Grahame

 

[rollingthunder]

I have to say, it's an absolute stunner - the book not the bird.

Laurie -

 

[Muppit17]

All I can contribute is that I have seen Finsch's looking just like this in Uzbekistan but I have never seen Variable there. The only Variables I have seen are nothing like as pale, but as they were not capistrata perhaps not surprising.