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The plumage of Grey Wagtails is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. During the breeding season, male Grey Wagtails have a black throat patch lined by white edges on the sides. The rest of the front, from chest to undertail coverts, is bright-yellow. Apart from prominent white eyebrows, the head and back are all slate-grey. Only the flight feathers are dark-grey, with white edge lining. The uppertail is dark-grey, the undertail light-grey. Males in eclipse resemble females. Female Grey Wagtails - and males in eclipse - have a prominent white wing bar and otherwise duller colours (a paler yellow front, lighter grey throughout) than males. They do not have a black throat patch, but the throat can be mottled in some individuals. The eyes have dark irises. The slender, straight bill is dark-grey; the legs and feet are greyish-pink. Juveniles are more brownish on the back and mostly creamy on the front. Only the undertail coverts and part of the breast are yellowish.

Twitcher's tip

The plumages of all members of the Motacilla family of wagtails vary between the sexes, but also with season and age.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Grey Wagtail is available HERE .

Grey Wagtails have a very wide-ranging distribution, from the Azores in the northern Atlantic in the West to the coastline of the Bering Sea in far-eastern Siberia in the East.
Grey Wagtails, nominate race "cinerea", breed in western (including the British Isles), central and southern Europe (all the Mediterranean countries), plus parts of Denmark and the southern Scandinavian coastline. There are also small patches in the western Atlas mountain range and from the coastal regions of Asia Minor into south-western Asia (Iraq, Iran). In summertime they disperse into breeding grounds in eastern Europe, around the Caucasus mountains and into central Asia. They winter in parts of the European Mediterranean coastal areas, the Benelux countries, central Asia Minor, along the northern African coastline, the Middle Eastern Mediterranean coastline and also around the Red Sea, including Arabia. Race "robusta" breeds in Siberia, Korea and Japan, and winters in south-eastern Asia, rarely also in Australia. Other races are mainly found on island groups or are in dispute.

Grey Wagtails, race "robusta", are listed as rare vagrants to the Australian continent from the North. There are a number of sightings in both the Top End of the NT and Cape York peninsula and even in Alice Springs, NT, and Adelaide, SA.

Grey Wagtails are usually found along watercourses such as fast-flowing creeks.

Race "robusta"

Race "cinerea"