Western yellow wagtail

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Western yellow wagtail
Wiesenschafstelze.JPG
Adult male blue-headed wagtail (M. f. flava)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Genus: Motacilla
Species:
M. flava
Binomial name
Motacilla flava
Subspecies

Some 15-20, but see text

MotacillaFlavaIUCN.svg
Range
  Breeding
  Resident
  Passage
  Non-breeding
Synonyms

Motacilla tschutschensis(but see text)

The western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) is a small passerine bird in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. This species breeds in much of temperate Europe and Asia. Most populations are migratory, moving south to tropical Africa and southern Asia for the winter; the small population breeding in Egypt is however resident there.

Contents

It is a slender 15–16 cm long bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. It is the shortest tailed of the European wagtails. The breeding adult male is basically olive above and yellow below. In other plumages, particularly in juveniles, the yellow may be diluted to whitish. The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colours and patterns depending on subspecies. The call is a high-pitched jeet. [2] This insectivorous bird inhabits open country near water, such as wet meadows. It nests in tussocks, laying 4–8 speckled eggs.

Taxonomy

The western yellow wagtail was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Motacilla flava. [3] In 1555 the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner had used the identical Latin name Motacilla Flava when describing this species in his book, Historia animalium . [4] Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe but this is now restricted to southern Sweden. [5] The genus name Motacilla is the Latin name for the wagtail; although actually a diminutive of motare, "to move about", from medieval times it led to the misunderstanding of cilla as "tail". The specific flava is Latin for golden-yellow. [6]

This species' systematics and phylogeny is confusing. Dozens of subspecies have been described at one time or another, and some 15-20 are currently considered valid depending on which author reviews them. In addition, the citrine wagtail (M. citreola) forms a cryptic species complex with this bird; [7] [ page needed ] both taxa as conventionally delimited are paraphyletic in respect to each other. The populations of the Beringian region are sometimes separated as eastern yellow wagtail (M. tschutschensis).

Subspecies

The ten recognised subspecies are listed below. [8] Plumage colours refer to males except when noted; females are often hard to impossible to identify to subspecies. [9] Vernacular names of the European subspecies follow Svensson (1992). [9]

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistributionCharacteristics
2021-04-20 Motacilla flava flavissima, Rising Sun CP, Northumberland 1.jpg
Northumberland, UK
M. f. flavissima
(Blyth, 1834)
Yellow wagtailBreeding: England, east Wales, southeast Scotland; occasionally on adjacent European coasts. Winter: West Africa, mostly Senegal, Gambia.Yellow-green head with a brighter yellow supercilium. Females markedly paler below than males.
Motacilla flava lutea 342893529.jpg
Bashkortostan, Russia
M. f. lutea
(S. G. Gmelin, 1774)
Yellow-headed wagtailBreeding: Lower Volga to Irtysh River and Lake Zaysan. Winter: Africa and Indian subcontinent.Head yellow with green neck in males, females like a somewhat more vivid M. f. flava female.
Dinner time (Motacilla flava) (8822288852).jpg
Arnhem, Netherlands
M. f. flava
Linnaeus, 1758
Blue-headed wagtailBreeding: southern Scandinavia (and occasionally on the east coast of Great Britain) to France and central European mountain ranges, east to the Urals. Winter: sub-Saharan Africa.Blue-grey head with white supercilium and malar stripe in males, much washed with dull green in females.
Yellow wagtail in Western Siberia.jpg
Tyumen, Russia
M. f. beema
(Sykes, 1832)
Sykes's wagtailBreeding: North of M. f. lutea, east to Ladakh area. Winter: Indian subcontinent, also east Africa and adjacent Arabia.Like M. f. flava but head lighter grey, ears washed white; females probably indistinguishable from female M. f. flava.
Motacilla flava iberiae, Delta Llobregat 2.jpg
Barcelona, Spain
M. f. iberiae
Hartert, 1921
Spanish wagtailBreeding: south-western France, Iberia, Maghreb from Tunisia to Banc d'Arguin. Winter: The Gambia to the Central African Republic.Like M. f. flava, but throat white and grey darker, almost black behind eyes.
Motacilla flava cinereocapilla, Nomadelfia, Italia 1.jpg
Tuscany, Italy
M. f. cinereocapilla
Savi, 1831
Ashy-headed wagtailBreeding: south-eastern France, Sicily, Sardinia, Italy, Slovenia. Winter: coastal Tunisia and Algeria, Mali to Lake Chad.Like M. f. iberiae but supercilium absent or vestigial.
M. f. pygmaea
(A. E. Brehm1854),
Egyptian yellow wagtail Nile delta and lower Nile; resident, non-migratory.Similar to M. f. cinereocapilla, but smaller, less bright.
Motacilla flava leucocephala, Kolyshleysky District, Penza Oblast, Russia 1.jpg
Penza Oblast, Russia
M. f. leucocephala
(Przevalski, 1887)
White-headed wagtailBreeding: north-west Mongolia and adjacent China and Russia. Winter: probably India.Male like flava, but grey of head very pale, almost white. Female like M. f. flava females, but head somewhat darker.
Motacilla flava feldegg Kurdistan.jpg
Kurdistan, Turkey
M. f. feldegg
Michahelles, 1830
Black-headed wagtailBreeding: Balkans east to the Caspian Sea, south to Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan; also Levant. Winter: central Africa from Nigeria to Uganda and south Sudan, and east to northern India.Jet black cap in males, females like a dull M. f. thunbergi male above, washed-out dirty yellowish below, throat white.
Western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava thunbergi) Oppdal 2.jpg
Oppdal, Norway
M. f. thunbergi
Billberg, 1828
Grey-headed wagtailBreeding: central and northern Scandinavia east to north-west Siberia. Winter: eastern Africa, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia.Head dark grey, reaching down to the cheeks, and without white in males; lighter and washed greenish, with vestigial greenish supercilium in females.

The nominate blue-headed wagtail and yellow wagtail form a narrow hybrid zone in northern France. Birds from this zone vary in appearance, but one type, which resembles nominate blue-headed wagtail (except that the blue tones to the head are paler and more mauve and the white of the head is more extensive, particularly on the throat, ear-coverts, and supercilium) is colloquially referred to as Channel wagtail. A hybrid zone between M. f. flava and M. f. feldegg in Romania and nearby, sometimes distinguished as separate subspecies "M. f. dombrowskii" or "M. f. superciliaris", is also variable, but often like M. f. feldegg except with a white supercilium, rather than a solid black head. [9] [10]

In culture

In the Pyramid Texts of Old Kingdom Egypt, the yellow wagtail was considered a representation of Atum himself and might have been the first inspiration for the Bennu bird, which, in turn, is the supposed inspiration for the phoenix of Greek mythology. [11]

The yellow wagtail is the subject of a poem, Motacilla flava flavissima, in Polly Atkin's 2021 poetry collection, Much With Body. [12]

References

  1. BirdLife International (2019). "Motacilla flava". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T103822349A155602678. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T103822349A155602678.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Wiles et al. 2000, p. 279.
  3. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. pp. 185–186.
  4. Gesner, Conrad (1555). Historiae animalium liber III qui est de auium natura. Adiecti sunt ab initio indices alphabetici decem super nominibus auium in totidem linguis diuersis: & ante illos enumeratio auium eo ordiné quo in hoc volumine continentur (in Latin). Zurich: Froschauer. p. 594.
  5. Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 131.
  6. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp. 160, 261. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. Voelker 2002.
  8. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 Svensson, Lars (1992). Identification Guide to European Passerines (4th ed.). London: Self published. pp. 88–91. ISBN   91-630-1118-2.
  10. Svensson, L., Mullarney, K., & Zetterström, D. (2009) Collins Bird Guide , ed. 2. ISBN   0-00-219728-6
  11. Salvador, Rodrigo B. (2015). "Egyptian mythology in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona games". Journal of Greek Studies. 2 (2): 8–32.
  12. Atkin, Polly (2021). Much With Body. Bridgend, Wales: Seren (published 18 October 2021). pp. 31–32. ISBN   9781781726457.

Sources