Yellow Wagtail

Latin name: Motacilla flava

Population: 5-50 million individuals

Cites classified: Least Concern

Where found: Northern Scandinavia and across Russia to Chukotka, north to the coast except on the Taimyr Peninsula, also found in western Alaska

Age/ life expectancy: 3 years

Wingspan: 23-27 cm

Length: 15-17 cm

Weight: 16-20 g

Mating/Breeding: The female builds the nest, which is either on the ground in a hollow or in thick grass. The nest is cup-shaped and made from grass, plant stems and roots, with a lining of hair or fur. The duties of incubating the eggs are performed by the female. The newly-hatched young are fed by both adults.

Eggs: 4-6 white, olive, or brown eggs very variably marked, from unmarked to heavy brown streaking

Hibernation: migrates to central and southern Africa, India, and Southeast Asia

Hunting Habits: ground foraging or short flights

Feed on: invertebrates

Colour/Body: The breeding adult male is basically olive above and yellow below. In other plumages, the yellow may be diluted by white. The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colours and patterns depending on subspecies.

Subspecies: M. f. flava– Blue-headed Wagtail. Blue-gray head with white supercilium and malar stripe in males, much washed with buffish green in females. Breeding: S Scandinavia to France and C European mountain ranges, E to Urals. Winter: sub-Saharan Africa; M. f. flavissima– Yellow-crowned Wagtail. Yellow-green head with a brighter yellow supercilium. Females markedly paler below than males. Breeding: Britain and English Channel coast. Winter: Africa; M. f. thunbergi - Dark-headed Wagtail or Grey-headed Wagtail. Head dark gray, reaching down to the cheeks, and without white in males; lighter and washed greenish, with vestigial greenish supercilium in females. Breeding: C and N Scandinavia E to NW Siberia. Winter: E Africa, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia; M. f. iberiae– Iberian Yellow Wagtail. Like flava, but throat white and gray darker, almost black behind eyes. Breeding: SE France, Iberia, Maghreb from Tunisia to Banc d'Arguin. Winter: The Gambia to CAR; M. f. cinereocapilla– Ashy-headed Wagtail. Like iberiae but supercilium absent or vestigial. Breeding: Sicily, Sardinia, Italy, Slovenia. Winter: coastal Tunisia and Algeria, Mali to Lake Chad; M. f. pygmaea– Egyptian Yellow Wagtail. Similar to cinereocapilla, smaller, less bright. Nile delta and lower Nile, resident all year; M. f. feldegg– Black-headed Wagtail, Like thunbergi but black cap in males, females like a dull thunbergi male above, very washed-out dirty yellowish below, throat white. Breeding: Balkans E to Caspian Sea, S to Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan; also Levant. Winter: C Africa from Nigeria to Uganda and S Sudan; M. f. lutea– Yellow-headed Wagtail. Head yellow with green neck in males, females like a somewhat more vivid flava female. Breeding: Lower Volga to Irtysh River and Lake Zaysan. Winter: Africa and Indian subcontinent; M. f. beema– Sykes' Wagtail. Like flava but head lighter gray, ears washed white; sexes often similar. Breeding: North of lutea, E to Ladakh area. Winter: Indian subcontinent, also E Africa and adjacent Arabia; M. f. melanogrisea– Turkestan Black-headed Wagtail. Similar to feldegg, but white malar stripe and sometimes green neck. Breeding: Volga Delta E around Caspian Sea to N Afghanistan. Winter: Pakistan and NW India to W Nepal, possibly also NE Africa; M. f. plexa– North Siberian Yellow Wagtail. Males like thunbergi but ears darker, top of head lighter, vestigial supercilium. Females like dull males. Breeding: Siberia between Khatanga and Kolyma Rivers. Winter: India, SE Asia; M. f. tschutschensis– Beringian Yellow Wagtail, Alaska Yellow Wagtail, or Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Both sexes similar to corresponding flava, but gray of head darker; females often very male-like. Breeding: around Bering Strait to NW Canada coast. Winter: regions around South China Sea; M. f. angarensis– South Siberian Yellow Wagtail. Males like plexa, but supercilium more pronounced. Breeding: From S Siberia S through W Transbaikalia to N Mongolia. Winter: SE Asia; M. f. leucocephala– White-headed Yellow Wagtail. Male like flava, but grey of head very pale, almost white. Female like flava females, but head somewhat darker. Breeding: NW Mongolia and adjacent PRC and Russia. Winter: probably India; M. f. taivana– Green-crowned Yellow Wagtail or Kuril Yellow Wagtail. Like flavissima but daker above, ears much darker, almost black. Sexes similar. Breeding: between ranges of plexa and tschutschensis S via Sakhalin to N Hokkaidō. Winter: Myanmar to Taiwan, S to Wallacea; M. f. macronyx– Southeast Siberian Yellow Wagtail. Males like thunbergi but brighter and more strongly marked overall. Female like in thunbergi but no supercilium. Breeding: SE Transbaikalia E to coast, S to Manchuria. Winter: NW of South China Sea; M. f. simillima– Bering Sea Yellow Wagtail or Short-tailed Grey-headed Wagtail. Both sexes similar to corresponding flava, but supercilium usually less pronounced. Breeding: Kamchatka and Bering Sea islands, possibly to Aleuts. Winter: SE Asia S to N Australia.