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24

Western Yellow Wagtail

(Motacilla flava)
Alternate name(s): "Yellow Wagtail" (many others for individual races)
Size: 15-16 cm; wing span: 23-27 cm; Weight: 16-22 g

Similar
species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Yellow Wagtail at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "flava"

ADULT

Additional information

Adult Western Yellow Wagtails were photographed in Europe.

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of an juvenile Western Yellow Wagtail
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, October 2009]

Near-frontal view of an juvenile Western Yellow Wagtail checking out the photographer
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, October 2009]

Near-lateral view of an juvenile Western Yellow Wagtail
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, October 2009]

Lateral view of an juvenile Western Yellow Wagtail
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, October 2009]

Lateral/ventral view of an juvenile Western Yellow Wagtail
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, October 2009]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Western Yellow Wagtail hovering near a pond
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, October 2009]

Food, Diet

Like all Motacilla wagtails known to us, Western Yellow Wagtails are insectivores.

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

yelwagt_dw_20200604.m4a flava
(Poland)
Contact calls? © DW
 
yelwagt_jp_20200316.m4a iberiae
(SW Portugal)
Contact call? (male) © JP
yelwagt_jp_20200505.m4a iberiae
(SW Portugal)
Contact calls? © JP
yelwagt_jp_20200517.m4a iberiae
(SW Portugal)
Contact calls? (in-flight) © JP
yelwagt_jp_20200316_2.m4a iberiae
(SW Portugal)
Various (male) © JP

More Western Yellow Wagtail sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site?
If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.