Wheatear, Peak District National Park, England 21 Aug 2025

Wheatear, Peak District National Park, England

You don"t need to be a bird expert to notice the wheatear darting across open ground. These ground-dwelling songbirds belong to the Oenanthe genus and are known for their upright posture and habit of hopping or sprinting between perches. Despite the name, wheatears have nothing to do with wheat or ears—the name is a twist on the old phrase "white arse," pointing to the bird"s distinctive white rump found in most species.

© Ben Hall/Nature Picture Library

palette

Today in History

Aug 20, 2023International Lighthouse Weekend
A deadly coast
21 Aug 2024Wolf Island, Galápagos, Ecuador

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Sanctuary among the trees
18 Mar 2026Pacific Rim Whale Festival
5 Oct 2024Follow the teacher!
World Population Day
Reflecting on Christmas
Stones on the solstice
4 Oct 2023World Space Week
12 Apr 2026International Day of Human Space Flight
Autumn on Windermere
6 Nov 2025Celebrating Yi Peng
Twinkle twinkle, little bugs
15 Mar 2025Ides of March
6 Aug 2025Ring-tailed lemur
The bears and the bees…
13 Dec 2023Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Walking a rocky rainbow
Colors of spring
A different kind of toucan
We’re all smiles for World Hippo Day
30 Aug 2024International Whale Shark Day
13 May 2024Fish River Canyon, Namibia
Keyholes to the kingdom
25 Jan 2026Burns Night
5 Jan 2024International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, Harbin, China
9 Apr 2026Sgwd yr Eira waterfall, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, Wales
Want to hang about?
30 Jun 2025Asteroid Day
A puzzle for giants
21 Dec 2023Ljubljana, Slovenia
7 Jun 2025Victoria Street in Edinburgh, Scotland