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Bird name:

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla flava

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)

Code 4

Non AOU

Code 6

Non AOU

ITIS

178483

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Unknown-

The Eastern Yellow Wagtail currently has a rating of Least Concern. This bird primarily breeds in temperate regions of Asia and Europe. It is also sometimes seen in Alaska. At this time there is no evidence which would suggest that the population of the Eastern Yellow Wagtail has declined over previous generations, which is the standard for higher ratings beyond Least Concern. The population of the Eastern Yellow Wagtail appears to be stable and the range of this bird species is sufficient enough for no current concern regarding possible danger in the near future.

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SUMMARY

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.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to Call

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

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.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Eastern Yellow Wagtail

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Samira Belous

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

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.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX