Whinchat (Oenanthe oenanthe) measures 14 to 16 cm in length, as large as a house sparrow. The male's rounded throat and chest smoothly transition into a white belly. In summer it has an ash-grey back, nape and head, and uniformly black-coloured wings. From its black conical bill a black stripe runs over the eye and widens toward the nape. The eyebrow stripe is white. In autumn and winter the grey of the male's upper parts is replaced by a brown mantle, and the feathers on the wings are lightly edged with light brown; the black eye mask is also no longer as pronounced. The female has a pattern similar to the male in summer plumage, but her colors are not as vivid. Her wings are dark brown, the back, nape and head are brownish grey, and she also lacks a black mask. Relatively long legs are the same color in both sexes – dark grey.
Whinchat is a migratory bird that overwinters in Africa. There, Canadian and Greenlandic populations of whinchats also winter, covering enormous distances on their migratory journeys. What’s more, they must fly across the ocean without a stop. In spring, the whinchat returns to its breeding areas. In April and May, among stones, in crevices in rocks or walls, in a rabbit burrow or similar shelter, it places some grass, moss and hair and lays 5 or 6 eggs in that nest. It prefers an open stony landscape high above the sea, where there are extensive grasslands, for example pastures and meadows, separated by stone walls; it often nests also on reed beds and marshes. It feeds on small invertebrates, mainly insects, but also spiders, slugs and earthworms.
It is estimated that the whinchat population is declining, but the European population is currently still large enough for the species not to be endangered. In Slovenia it is considered a rare species, nesting in mountainous areas, in the Alps and on high karst plateaus. In lowlands it can be observed during migration.
