Pied < > Black-eared Wheatears, Touran, Iran, April 2017

In the Touran area, several wheatears were observed which showed characters indicative of Pied < > Black-eared Wheatear intergrades. Such individuals are known to occur in this region. Some males can be mistaken easily for Finsch's Wheatear in a brief view. In the upper frames are two images of the same individual. In the relaxed posture on the left, this individual looks very like Finsch's, with an apparently broad black 'bridge' between throat and scapulars. However, the black on the throat is more restricted than on
most Finsch's, in which the area of back extends down onto the upper breast. In the posture in the right, it can be seen that, while there is a connection between throat and scapulars (unlike on Black-eared), this is very narrow and incompatible with Finsch's. The lower bird, a first-summer male, also shows features suggesting it is an intergrade.