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The Yellow Wagtail

THE MYSTERIOUS WAYS OF YELLOW WAGTAILS...  A - page f

 Specimen of the Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava

(Section A: Breeding birds of the area where the picture was taken.) 

THE MYSTERIOUS WAYS OF YELLOW WAGTAILS
 
Under favourable weather conditions Western Europe can expect influxes of a variety of representatives of the Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava Complex which is described in great detail by Per Ahlström & Krister Mild in the monograph Pipits & Wagtails of Europe, Asia and North America (publ.by Christopher Helm).
 
In a good spring with persistent SE winds between the middle of April and the middle of May large numbers of Yellow wagtails arrive in the Rhine-Meuse delta, here in the SW Netherlands where we live. The majority of the birds arriving in April are nominate Blue-headed Wagtails Motacilla f. flava whereas in May northern Grey-headed Wagtails Motacilla f. thunbergi gradually take over. In between these two others such as Yellow Wagtails Motacilla f. flavissima of which small numbers breed locally,as well as individual Black-headed Wagtails Motacilla f. feldegg, Citrine Wagtails Motacilla citreola, birds resembling Sykes' Wagtail Motacilla f. beema, and forms such as 'Dombrowski' and 'Superciliaris' appear on passage.
 
Interestingly the groups of migrants consist mainly of males as the females seem to arrive on an individual ticket. May be this explains the paucity of published pictures of females. In The Netherlands two races breed, the nominate being the commonest while small numbers of flavissima breed in the West of the country in both cultivated areas and saltmarshes. No case of hybridisation between flava and flavissima has ever been reported here and in any case would be very difficult to proof without the help of colour-ringing individuals and close observation of pairs.
 
In Birding World (Vol) 20: 104-112 March 2007, Philippe Dubois describes the confusing situation on the French side of the English Channel where he claims multiple hybridisation between Blue-headed nominate and Yellow Wagtail  which he calls 'Channel Wagtail'; nominate x Spanish Wagtail M.f.iberiae: 'Middlewest' Wagtail; Spanish Wagtail x Italian Wagtail M.f.cinereocapilla: 'Mediterranean' Wagtail; and Italian Wagtail x nominate flava which he calls 'Eastern Wagtail'.
By means of this complex hybridisation scheme he explains why some individuals look like f.i. Sykes Wagtail Motacilla f. beema but are in fact according to him a cross between flava and flavissima so-called 'Channel Wagtail'. This does not make recognising true eastern or southern vagrants which do occur any easier. In fact, if you accept this view, to separate a real vagrant from a Channel look-alike is impossible!
 
In this section A you will find pictures of true breeding birds and their off-spring versus birds photographed while on migration.                                                                                                                     
(go to 'migrant' section B >  )(g)

Section A: Breeding birds of the area where the picture was taken.

Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava
  04Motacilla flava flava ad male in typical Dutch habitat-samepict-21042007nl

001

 001 Motacilla flava flava ad male in typical Dutch habitat-samepict-21042007, The Netherlands

05Motacilla flava flava ad male 21042007 Stellendam-enlarged nl002

002 Motacilla flava flava ad male 21042007 Stellendam-enlarged, The Netherlands

april - picts 1-2

02Blue-headed Wagtaill Motacilla flava flava male singing15042006 Strijen a01

01 Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava flava male singing15042006 Strijen, The Netherlands

03Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava ad male 21042007 Stellendam nl02

02 Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava ad male 21042007 Stellendam, The Netherlands

juni - picts 1

01Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava juv 09082005 Scheelhoek nl01

01 Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava female in flight 08062006 Stellendam, The Netherlands

aug - picts 1-2

01Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava female in flight08062006Stellendam01 

01 Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava juv 09082005 Scheelhoek, The Netherlands

03Blue-headed Wagtail M.f.flava juv. 06082006 Stellendam n02

02 Blue-headed Wagtail M.f.flava juv. 06082006 Stellendam, The Netherlands

sept - picts 1-4

02Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava 1W 02092005 Stellendam nl 2a01

01 Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava 1W 02092005 Stellendam 2, The Netherlands

03Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava 1W 02092005 Stellendam nl a02

02 Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava 1W 02092005 Stellendam, The Netherlands

04Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava 02092005 habitat Stellendam nl a03

03 Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava 02092005 habitat Stellendam, The Netherlands

06Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava ad winter 02092005 Stellendam nl a04

04 Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla f.flava ad winter 02092005 Stellendam, The Netherlands

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(next is 'migrant' section B >  )(g)

a - White Wagtails
b - White Wagtails
c - White Wagtails

d - Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba yarrellii
e - Transbaicalian White Wagtail Motacilla alba baicalensis
ee - White wagtail Hybridisation
  The mysterious ways of the yellow wagtails A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I
f - Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava flava - A
g - Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava flava - B
h - Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava flava - C
i - British Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava flavissima - D
j - Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava thunbergi - E
k  - Italian OR Ashy-headed Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava cinereocapilla - F
l - Spanish Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava iberiae  - G
m - Sykes' Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava beema - H
n - Black-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava feldegg
o - Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava tschutschensis - I
p - Citrine Wagtails                                                       
q1-2-3 - Water, Rock & Buff-breasted Pipit Anthus rubescens
   

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29 dec 2011
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