The wheatear

A small sparrow characteristic of the alpine grasslands, the northern wheatear is easy to recognise by its white rump and its tail with an inverted black T. The rest of the male’s plumage is grey, white and ochre, while the female is uniform beige. Often perched on a rock, it alerts its presence with a “wit wit” or “chac chac”. This is a migratory bird that only inhabits the Vanoise during the summer months before crossing the Sahara to spend the winter in Equatorial Africa.