Description:

Medium-sized wheatear, usually washed out breast and lower throat. On breeding male, white of nape extends to mantle, black of throat does not extend to upper breast, and breast is washed with buff. Non-breeding and first-winter male and female have pale fringes to upperparts and wings.

Distribution:

Common and widespread summer visitor to all the valleys in Gilgit-Baltistan. Found in rocky semi-desert stony stretches with scattered boulders, stony slopes, rocky outcrops, lightly wooded slopes, hilly pastures and cultivation; up to 3600m.

Behavior:

Forages mainly by scanning from bush or rock perch and flying down onto terrestrial prey; also hunts on ground, sallies after flying insects, and gleans from leaves. Feeds on invertebrates, mainly ants and beetles, supplemented with fruit in autumn. Animal food includes beetles, ants, flies, moths, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders and woodlice. Plant food includes fruits, berries and seeds.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Pied Wheatear in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Pied Wheatear

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.