Desert Wheatear

The desert wheatear is a small migratory, insect-eating chat, 14.5 to 15 cm long, formerly placed with the thrushes. The western form breeds in the Sahara and northern Arabia, and the eastern form in the semi-deserts of Central Asia and winters in Pakistan and northeast Africa. The summer male is buff above with white underparts and black on the face and throat extending to the shoulders, with a white eyebrow; the female is greyer above with no black throat (Wikipedia, general species account).

In both sexes at all ages the whole tail is black up to the upper tail coverts. It feeds largely on insects picked off the ground, and breeds in spring in a well-hidden grass nest, laying usually four eggs.