Bird Guide

Eastern Yellow Wagtail vs White-browed Wagtail

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
White-browed Wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensis)

White-browed Wagtail

Motacilla maderaspatensis

Small31 gRiverine

The white-browed wagtail is the largest species of wagtail at 21 cm (8.3 in) length. It is a slender bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. It has black upperparts, head and breast, with a white supercilium and large white wingbar. Unlike white wagtails it never has white on the forehead. The rest of the underparts are white. The female has the black less intense than in the male. Juveniles are like the females brown-grey where the adult is black.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Mitul and Vijul Singh · 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: Eastern Yellow Wagtail and White-browed Wagtail.