The insular endemic Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca has been considered as a subspecies of Pied Wheatear O. pleschanka. However, due to several differences in behaviour, habitat selection and morphology, it is currently treated by most authors as an independent species. Here, we used mitochondrial nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene (679 base pairs), playback experiments and dummy presentations to assess the status of O. cypriaca. For the playback experiments we used the conspecific song, and heterospecific songs of the two subspecies of Black-eared Wheatear O. hispanica hispanica and O. hispanicamelanoleuca, O. pleschanka, and Finsch’s Wheatear O. finschii. Experimental dummy presentations included O. cypriaca, O. pleschanka and a dark and light morph of O. h. melanoleuca. O. cypriaca responded significantly stronger towards the conspecific model and towards conspecific playbacks than towards heterospecific stimuli. ML and BI analyses support the close relationship between O. cypriaca, O. pleschanka and O. h. melanoleuca. With a relative high posterior probability value (0.98), O. cypriaca clusters closer to O. h. melanoleuca from Iran and Israel (on migration) and O. pleschanka from Iran than to O. pleschanka obtained from Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and wintering areas in East Africa (Kenya). The scenario suggests that O. cypriaca might be either a relatively young taxon, which is yet behavioural distinct, but genetically still similar to its sister populations on the mainland. Alternatively, we may assume a close relationship as an indication for potential ongoing hybridisation processes involving all three forms.
