Wheatear and flowering heather, Peak District National Park, England

Perched and poised. 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.

Globally, there are around 20 species of wheatears, but in North America, the northern wheatear is the one you're most likely to encounter. It weighs less than an ounce, but travels thousands of miles between its summer homes in Alaska and northern Canada to its wintering grounds in Africa. Its migration route is one of the longest for a bird its size, crossing oceans and continents. Unlike many backyard songbirds, wheatears prefer wide-open spaces with low vegetation, where they can sprint and pounce on insects. And while most North American birders might only catch them in the far north, wheatears are widespread across Europe, Asia and Africa.