Abstract

A female wheatear found at Fluke Hall, Lancashire & North Merseyside, in September 2019 was initially identified as an Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe melanoleuca, primarily on the basis of a small white mark observed at the base of one of the bird’s lower mantle feathers. The bird was, however, accepted by BBRC as a Pied/Eastern Black-eared Wheatear O. pleschanka/melanoleuca. Research at the Natural History Museum, Tring, shows that the Committee was right to be cautious of using the white mantle-mark for identification, since Pied Wheatear can show a similar pattern (contra published literature). However, in this short paper, I put forward the case for why I believe the bird was a Pied Wheatear, rather than an Eastern Black-eared or an either/or.