Blackstart (Oenanthe melanura)
About the Blackstart
The blackstart (Oenanthe melanura) is a chat found in desert regions in North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. It is resident throughout its range. The blackstart is 14 cm (5.5 in) long and is named for its black tail, which is frequently fanned; the rest of its plumage is bluish-grey or grey-brown (North African races being browner, Middle Eastern races bluer). The sexes are similar. The song is a clear melancholy whistle: CHURlee.TRUloo.CHURlee.TRUlur., with short phrases from the song used as a call. The habitats of blackstarts are rocky deserts and mountain slopes; they nest in rock crevices lay 3–4 eggs. They feed on insects, taken mainly on the ground. The blackstart is a confident species, unafraid of people.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 23 recordings for this species: 1 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Ethiopia, Israel, Saudi Arabia in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Desert WheatearOenanthe desertirecording
- Northern WheatearOenanthe oenantherecording
- Pied WheatearOenanthe pleschankarecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.