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The plumage of White Wagtails is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Both males and females change their plumage with the seasons; for details see a field guide. In Australia usually only non-breeding birds are found. They have an all black, white and grey morphology, with a white head, white throat, black chest band, otherwise grey chest and white belly, vent and undertail coverts. The nape of the neck (in males also the crown) is grey to black, the rest of the back is grey. The wing feathers are black, with white edge lining. The eyes have dark irises. The slender, straight bill is black; the legs and feet are also black. Juveniles have a dusky front and a grey back.

Twitcher's tip

The plumages of all members of the Motacilla family of wagtails vary between the sexes, and 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 White Wagtail is available HERE .

Altogether, the about 10 currently recognized races of White Wagtails have a wide-spanning range. They occur basically all over Europe and in large parts of Asia, but they are very mobile and vagrant birds have been found farther South, through South-east Asia to Australia. Most of Asia to the North of the Himalaya is summer range; South-east Asia, the Indian subcontinent, all of Arabia and parts of the Middle East are winter range, while in southern/central/western Europe and parts of Korea and Japan White Wagtails can be found all year round.

White Wagtails are listed as rare vagrants to Australia. There are only a few confirmed sightings, mostly along the North-West coast of the continent, but also on the West coast (with one exception, near Darwin, NT, all in WA) and even in the Melbourne, VIC, area.

In Australia White Wagtails have so far only been reported in coastal areas.

L. George reports spotting a White Wagtail at Point Samson, near Karratha, WA, in October 2013.

K. Dorey reports spotting a White Wagtail on the eastern tip of Australia, at Midgen Flat, Broken Head, Byron Bay, NSW, in December 2013.

We have previously spotted White Wagtails in Oman and in Europe.