Blue-headed Wagtail

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iBlue-headed Wagtail
Pair of M. f. flava; female is upper bird
Pair of M. f. flava; female is upper bird
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Genus: Motacilla
Species: M. flava
Binomial name
Motacilla flava
Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies

see text

The Blue-headed Wagtail (Motacilla flava), also known by a number of other names such as Yellow Wagtail is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws.

This species breeds in much of temperate Europe and Asia and has a foothold in North America in Alaska. It is resident in the milder parts of its range, such as western Europe, but northern and eastern populations migrate to Africa and south Asia. The Beringian population, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, winters further down the Pacific coast.

This is an insectivorous bird of open country near water, such as wet meadows. It nests in tussocks, laying 4-8 speckled eggs.

This is a slender 15-16 cm long bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. It is the shortest tailed of the European wagtails. 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.

[edit] Systematics

This species' systematics and phylogeny is extremely confusing. Literally dozens of subspecies have been described at one time or another, and some 15-20 are currently considered valid depending on which author reviews them. In addition, the Citrine Wagtail forms a cryptic species complex with this bird (Voelker 2002); both taxa are paraphyletic in respect to each other.

Currently accepted subspecies
after Tyler (2005). Coloration refers to males except when noted.

  • M. f. flava Linnaeus, 1758 - 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 Blyth, 1834 - Yellow Wagtail or 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 Billberg, 1828 - 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 Hartert, 1921 - 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 Savi, 1831 - 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 (A. E. Brehm, 1854) - Egyptian Yellow Wagtail.
Similar to cinereocapilla, smaller, less bright.
Nile delta and lower nile, resident all year.
  • M. f. feldegg Michahelles, 1830 - 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 (S. G. Gmelin, 1774) - 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, 1832) - 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 (Homeyer, 1878) - 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 (Thayer & Bangs, 1914) - 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 J. F. Gmelin, 1789 - 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 (Sushkin, 1925) - 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 (Przevalski, 1887) - 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 (Swinhoe, 1863) - 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 (Stresemann, 1920) - 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 Hartert, 1905 - 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 isalnds, possibly to Aleuts. Winter: SE Asia S to N Australia.

Nominate Blue-headed Wagtail and Yellow Wagtail form a narrow hybrid zone in northern France. Birds from this zone vary in appearance, but one type, which resembles nominate Blue-headed Wagtail (except that the blue tones to the head are paler and more mauve and the white of the head is more extensive, particularly on the throat, ear-coverts, and supercilium) is colloquially referred to as Channel Wagtail.


[edit] Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Blue-headed Wagtail

Blue-headed Wagtail

Blue-headed Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

[edit] References

  • BirdLife International (2004). Motacilla flava. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
  • Tyler, Stephanie J. (2004): 60. Yellow Wagtail. In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (editors): Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 9: Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails: 781-782, Plate 77. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-69-5
  • Voelker, Gary (2002): Systematics and historical biogeography of wagtails: Dispersal versus vicariance revisited. Condor 104(4): 725–739. [English with Spanish abstract] DOI: 10.1650/0010-5422(2002)104[0725:SAHBOW]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract
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