Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla flavaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)

Codes: Common Name: Non AOU Scientific Name: Non AOU ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178483

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (tschutschensis) Breeding Male

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Overview

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Small wagtail (tschutschensis), olive-green upperparts, yellow underparts with brown spots on sides of breast. White throat with faint brown necklace. Gray head has black ear patches, white eyebrows. Dark wings with two white bars. Black tail with white edges.

Range and Habitat

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Breeds in northern and western Alaska and Aleutians. Spends winters in Eurasia. Preferred habitats include wet meadows, riverbanks, and lakeshores.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"pee-weet, pee-weet", "tsweep", "ijit-jijit"

Interesting Facts

The Eastern Yellow Wagtail has been identified as the wild bird most likely to carry the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian flu from Asia to Alaska.

It overwinters in the epicenter of Asian H5N1 outbreaks in southeast Asia and Indonesia where it uses open areas with water, is often associated with agriculture and domestic animals, and congregates into flocks of thousands of birds at evening roosts.

They are thus likely to become infected with Asian H5N1 through direct contact with both wild and domestic birds in Asia and carry it to Alaska where an estimated 1,400,000 individuals of the species breeds.

A group of wagtails are collectively known as a "flock" of wagtails.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Samira Belous

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

● Song: "pee-weet, pee-weet", "tsweep", "ijit-jijit"

● Foraging & Feeding: Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Eats insects, worms, snails, and sometimes seeds and fruits; forages on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Four to seven buff to white eggs, marked with brown, buff, or gray, are laid in a cup nest made of grass, forbs, leaves, and mosses, and lined with hair and feathers. Incubation ranges from 10 to 13 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Gray Wagtail has longer tail, gray back with flight feathers not edged in white, and black throat during breeding season.

Flight Pattern

Several rapid strong wing beats followed by winges tucked to sides.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (tschutschensis) Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Breeds in northern and western Alaska and Aleutians. Spends winters in Eurasia. Preferred habitats include wet meadows, riverbanks, and lakeshores.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.56 - 0.7 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America