This black-and-white bird breeds only on Cyprus and migrates to Africa for winter.
Its plumage has contrasting black and white areas. In autumn, the colours become duller.
The Cyprus wheatear breeds only on Cyprus and spends the non-breeding season in Africa. At Troodos National Forest Park, researchers followed a colour-ringed population of 45–69 pairs during four breeding seasons, from 2010 to 2013. They recorded which birds returned to their territories and which shifted to another breeding site, then used those observations to study survival and dispersal.
Survival estimates accounted for birds that moved away from their previous territory, rather than treating every missing bird as a death. Survival at the study site was high but varied from year to year, and male and female return records differed. The project shows how repeated territory observations can reveal both persistence and movement in an island-breeding migrant.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
At Troodos, survival was high but varied among years. The authors used records of territory returns and shifts to account for dispersal in survival estimates, and discuss how conditions during migration or on East African wintering grounds may affect year-to-year population dynamics.