An invasion of wheatears

From top left to bottom right:: Aldabra 22-23 January (Annabelle Cupidon/SIF); Farquhar  24 January (William McNeely/ICS); Alphonse 22 January (Kaeleah Andrew/ICS); Alphonse 3 January (Alphonse); St Francois 31 January (Kaeleah Andrew/ICS); Desroches 18 January (Nasreen Khan).

In January 2024, SBRC received an unprecedented number of reports of Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe from the outer islands of Seychelles. Reports came from the Amirantes (Desroches and Alphonse), Farquhar and Aldabra.

The timing of these sightings is similar to previous reports, being later in the season than other northern migrants. There is probably a good reason for this. Northern Wheatears breeding in Western Europe have spread to eastern North America in recent times while the Asian breeding population has spread to Alaska. However, all populations winter in Africa. Birds in eastern North America travel via Europe while those breeding in Alaska go the opposite way around the globe and cross the whole of Asia. So records in Seychelles are most likely to be eastern birds from as far away as Alaska.    This is the longest recorded migration for any songbird.