Scientific name: Oenanthe monticola
Mountain wheatear is 18–20 cm long, and like other wheatears, it has a distinctive tail pattern, with a white rump and outer tail feathers. Its legs and pointed bill are black. The male is very variable in plumage, although the tail pattern and a white shoulder patch are always present. A white and black bird. The body plumage varies from pale grey to almost black, and it may or may not have a white crown to the head. The female is entirely dark brown apart from the white rump and outer tail.
Near-endemic to southern Africa, occurring from south-west Angola through Namibia to South Africa. It generally prefers boulder-strewn hillsides with scattered bushes, old mine workings, small cliffs, farmyards and gardens of houses on rocky slopes.
It mainly eats invertebrates, often foraging on the ground and on rocks, plucking smaller prey leisurely but also chasing and stabbing larger invertebrates. It may also forage from a perch, pouncing on prey on the ground or hawking them in the air.
