Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka

The Pied Wheatear is native mainly to Central and Western Asia but its range is from south-eastern Europe through to Mongolia. It winters in India and Africa.

The male (above in breeding plumage and with a large grasshopper) is pied black and white. The photos on this page were taken by Alexandra Makhnina in Kazakhstan.

The female (above with another grasshopper) is shades of dark, mid and light brown.

The grasshopper, for his young, is nearly as big as his head.

She has a caterpillar for the young next. A view of the nest in a hole high up in an inaccessible cliff.