Bird name:

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla flava

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)

Code 4

Non AOU

Code 6

Non AOU

ITIS

178483

Breeding Location:

Tundra, Rivers, Wetlands, Ponds, Meadows, grassy, Lakes

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Buff to white with brown, buff or gray marks

Number of Eggs:

4 - 7

Incubation Days:

10 - 13

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Grass,forbs, leaves, and mosses., Lined with hair and feathers.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Small wagtail (tschutschensis), with olive-green upperparts and yellow underparts with brown spots on sides of breast. Throat is white with faint brown necklace. Gray head has black ear patches and distinct white eyebrows. Wings are dark with two white bars. Tail is very long, black with white edges and wags constantly. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has buff underparts.

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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and Feeding

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

Vocalization

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Song is a short, trilling "chip-chip-chip" or quiet "pee-weet, pee-weet." Call is a bold "tsweep" or "ijit-jijit."

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.

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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.

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