The Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) is a sought-after eastern vagrant in Sweden, with a handful of records most years since the 2000s, mainly on Öland during autumn migration, and every sighting draws birdwatchers. It is roughly 15–17 cm long, somewhat larger and heavier than the common Wheatear, and strikingly plain — a uniform, pale sandy-brown or "isabelline" colour with almost no contrast in the plumage. In flight the broad white rump and black, T-shaped tail pattern become clearly visible, the upper breast can show a faint yellow-orange tone, and the fairly strong, long bill and legs give the bird an upright, long-legged stance.
In Sweden the species is mostly silent, its most frequent call a harsh, hard "chack-chack" similar to other wheatears' alarm notes; on its breeding grounds further east it has a whistling, mimicking song, but this is rarely heard from the vagrants that reach Scandinavia. It breeds on dry steppe and open ground from southeastern Europe across Central Asia, nesting in ground cavities such as abandoned rodent burrows — but does not breed in Sweden, where it occurs only as a rare autumn visitor, mostly in September and October at sites like Öland, Gotland and Falsterbo, when eastern birds drift off course during migration. It feeds on insects and other invertebrates, beetles forming an important part of the diet, foraging on the ground in short, open vegetation by running a few steps, stopping and pecking — the classic wheatear hunting technique.
Read about this species in Swedish →