Western Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) [XC314269]
by Albert Lastukhin from Abzelilovskiy rayon, Respublika Bashkortostan, Germany (song)
Western Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) [XC659399]
by Lars Edenius from Tagus Estuary Nature Reserve (near Samora Correia), Benavente, Santar\u00e9m, Sweden (call)
Nest
Cup-shaped, composed of grass and plant-stems, thickly lined with hair, in a depression in the ground, usually sheltered by a tussock.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 6, usually 5 or 6; smooth, glossy, ochre, sometimes mottled or with thin dark streaks; oval; about 19 x 14 mm. Incubation: about 14 - 15 days; mostly by female.
Young
Fledge in 11 - 13 days.
Subspecies
Complex subspeciation with 13 - 22 subspecies recognised.
Motacilla flava (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was split into Motacilla flava and Motacilla tschutschensis by AOU (2004), but this treatment is not followed by the BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group owing to the unresolved relationships of several other subspecies in the flava complex, which means that geographical and taxonomic limits cannot yet be put on the two taxa if classified as separate species. This approach is also in line with the recent treatment by Tyler (2004).
The following 17 subspecies are recognised:
flava Linnaeus, 1758 - Breeding from southern Scandinavia to France and central European mountain ranges, east to Urals. Wintering sub-Saharan Africa.
feldegg Michahelles, 1830 - Breeding from Balkans, east to Caspian Sea, south to Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Also Levant. Wintering central Africa from Nigeria to Uganda and southern Sudan. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Black-headed Wagtail (Motacilla feldegg).
taivana (Swinhoe, 1863) - Breeding, between the ranges of plexa and tschutschensis, south via Sakhalin to northern Hokkaidô. Wintering Myanmar to Taiwan, south to Wallacea. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Green-headed Wagtail (Motacilla taivana).
simillima Hartert, 1905 - Breeding Kamchatka and Bering Sea islands, possibly to Aleuts. Wintering south-eastern Asia south to northern Australia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Kamchatka Wagtail (Motacilla simillima).
thunbergi Billberg, 1828 - Breeding central and northern Scandinavia, east to north-western Siberia. Wintering east Africa, Indian subcontinent, south-eastern Asia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Grey-headed Wagtail (Motacilla thunbergi).
lutea (Gmelin, SG, 1774) - Breeding from lower Volga to Irtysh River and Lake Zaysan. Wintering Africa and Indian subcontinent. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Yellow-headed Wagtail (Motacilla lutea).
leucocephala (Przewalski, 1887) - Breeding north-western Mongolia and adjacent PRcentral and Russia. Wintering probably in India. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, White-headed Wagtail (Motacilla leucocephala).
cinereocapilla Savi, 1831 - Breeding Sicily, Sardinia, Italy, Slovenia. Wintering coastal Tunisia and Algeria, Mali to Lake Chad. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Ashy-headed Wagtail (Motacilla cinereocapilla).
iberiae Hartert, 1921 - Breeding south-eastern France, Iberia, Maghreb from Tunisia to Banc d'Arguin. Wintering The Gambia to Central African Republic. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Spanish Wagtail (Motacilla iberiae).
flavissima (Blyth, 1834) - Breeding in Britain and English Channel coast. Wintering in Africa. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, British Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flavissima).
pygmaea (Brehm, AE, 1854) - Nile delta and lower Nile, resident all year.
beema (Sykes, 1832) - Breeding north of Lutea, east to the Ladakh area. Wintering Indian subcontinent, also eastern Africa and adjacent Arabia.
melanogrisea (Homeyer, 1878) - Breeding Volga Delta east around the Caspian Sea to northern Afghanistan. Wintering Pakistan and north-western India to western Nepal, possibly also north-eastern Africa.
plexa (Thayer and Bangs, 1914) - Breeding Siberia between Khatanga and Kolyma Rivers. Wintering India, south-east Asia. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis).
tschutschensis J. F. Gmelin, 1789 - Breeding around Bering Strait to north-western Canada coast. Wintering regions around South China Sea. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis).
angarensis (Sushkin, 1925) - Breeding from southern Siberia, south through western Transbaikalia to northern Mongolia. Wintering south-eastern Asia.
macronyx (Stresemann, 1920) - Breeding south-eastern Transbaikalia, east to coast, south to Manchuria. Wintering north-west of South China Sea. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet