Definition of "wheatear" [wheat•ear]

• A small thrush (Oenanthe oenanthe) having a gray back, buff breast, and white rump, found in open areas of most northern regions. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Adult male pied wheatear, Oenanthe pleschanka (protonym, Motacilla pleschanka), also known as the common pied wheatear, Pleschanka's wheatear, or as Pleschanka's (pied) chat, photographed at Debre Libanos, Ethiopia (Africa)."
• "Response: This is an adult male pied wheatear, Oenanthe pleschanka."
• "This species is strongly dichromatic, meaning that the males and females have distinctive plumage colours and patterns -- a characteristic that distinguishes it from the monochromatic Cyprus pied wheatear, Oenanthe cypriaca, with which it was formerly considered to be conspecific."