Western Yellow Wagtail

About the Western Yellow Wagtail

The western yellow wagtail 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.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What the Western Yellow Wagtail sounds like

Where it lives

Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Australia, Japan, Réunion, Cape Verde.

When to see it

Peak activity in May · a summer visitor species across most of its range

Easily confused with

Grey WagtailMotacilla cinereaThis slim wagtail has a narrow white supercilium and a broken eye ring. Cape WagtailMotacilla capensisThe Cape wagtail has a dull plumage and a relatively short tail, with olive grey breast and face, with a tan supercilium and dark lores. White-browed WagtailMotacilla maderaspatensisThe white-browed wagtail is the largest species of wagtail at 21 cm (8.3 in) length.