Bird Guide

Citrine Wagtail vs Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola)

Citrine Wagtail

Motacilla citreola

Small19 gWetland

It is a slender, 15.5–17 cm long bird, with the long, constantly wagging tail characteristic of the genus Motacilla. The adult male in breeding plumage is basically grey or black above, with white on the remiges, and bright yellow below and on the entire head except for the black nape. In winter plumage, its yellow underparts may be diluted by white, and the head is brownish with a yellowish supercilium. Females look generally like washed-out versions of males in winter plumage.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Kevin Guille · CC0
Photo: (c) egorbirder, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis)

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla tschutschensis

Small19 gGrassland

It is a slender 15–16 cm long bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. The breeding adult male is basically olive-green above and yellow below. In other plumages, particularly first-winter birds but also many females, the yellow may be diluted by white. The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colours and patterns depending on subspecies.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Jochem Verweij · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: valerkov · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Citrine Wagtail and Eastern Yellow Wagtail.