The eastern yellow wagtail (''Motacilla tschutschensis'') is a small passerine in the

wagtail Wagtails are a group of passerine birds that form the genus ''Motacilla'' in the family Motacillidae. The forest wagtail belongs to the monotypic genus ''Dendronanthus'' which is closely related to ''Motacilla'' and sometimes included therein. T ...

family

Motacillidae The wagtails, longclaws, and pipits are a family, Motacillidae, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Around 70 species occur in five genera. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predominan ...

, which also includes the pipits and

longclaw The longclaws are a genus, ''Macronyx'', of small African passerine birds in the family Motacillidae. Longclaws are slender, often colorful, ground-feeding insectivores of open country. They are ground nesters, laying up to four speckled eggs. T ...

s. It was often classified as a subspecies of the Western yellow wagtail. This species breeds in the East

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

and has a foothold in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

in Alaska. Populations

migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

to south Asia and Australia. Vagrant individuals occur around the winter quarters at migration time. For example, on Palau in Micronesia migrant flocks of this species – apparently of the Bering Sea yellow wagtail, and including many adult males – are regularly seen, while further north on the

Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

, only the occasional stray individual – usually females or immatures as it seems – is encountered. 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 The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

above and yellow below. In other plumages, the yellow may be diluted by white. The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colours and patterns depending on

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

. The call is a characteristic high-pitched ''jeet''. This

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

bird inhabits open country near water, such as wet meadows. It nests in tussocks, laying 4–8 speckled eggs. The Acanthocephalan parasite ''

Apororhynchus paulonucleatus ''Apororhynchus'' is a genus of small parasitic spiny-headed (or thorny-headed) worms. It is the only genus in the family Apororhynchidae, which in turn is the only member of the order Apororhynchida. A lack of features commonly found in the phy ...

'' was discovered in the colon and cloaca of the Eastern yellow wagtail.

Systematics

This species' systematics and phylogeny is extremely confusing. Literally dozens of subspecies have been described at one time or another, and 5 are currently considered valid depending on which author reviews them. In addition, the

citrine wagtail The citrine wagtail (''Motacilla citreola'') is a small songbird in the family Motacillidae. Etymology The term ''citrine'', and the specific name ''citreola'', refers to its yellowish colouration. Taxonomy Its systematics, phylogeny and taxon ...

(''M. citreola'') forms a cryptic species complex with this bird; both taxa as conventionally delimited are

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

in respect to each other. In addition, some taxonomic authorities continue to keep the eastern and

western yellow wagtail The western yellow wagtail (''Motacilla flava'') is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. This species breeds in much of temperate Europe and Asia. It is resident in the milder parts ...

s together as yellow wagtail, (''M. flava''). Current subspecies: *''M. t. angarensis'' (Sushkin, 1925) – South Siberian yellow wagtail. :Males like ''M. flava plexa'', but supercilium more pronounced. :Breeding: From S Siberia S through W Transbaikalia to N Mongolia. Winter: SE Asia. *''M. t. leucocephala'' (Przevalski, 1887) – White-headed yellow wagtail. :Male like ''M. f. flava'', but grey of head very pale, almost white. Female like ''flava'' females, but head somewhat darker. :Breeding: NW Mongolia and adjacent PRC and Russia. Winter: probably India. *''M. t. taivana'' (Swinhoe, 1863) – Green-crowned yellow wagtail or Kuril yellow wagtail. :Like ''M. f. flavissima'' but daker above, ears much darker, almost black. Sexes similar. :Breeding: between ranges of ''plexa'' and ''tschutschensis'' S via Sakhalin to N

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. Winter:

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

to Taiwan, S to Wallacea. *''M. t. macronyx'' (Stresemann, 1920) – Southeast Siberian yellow wagtail. :Males like ''M. f. thunbergi'' but brighter and more strongly marked overall. Female like in ''thunbergi'' but no supercilium. :Breeding: SE Transbaikalia E to coast, S to Manchuria. Winter: NW of South China Sea. *''M. t. simillima'' Hartert, 1905 – Bering Sea yellow wagtail or short-tailed grey-headed wagtail. :Both sexes similar to corresponding ''M. f. flava'', but supercilium usually less pronounced. :Breeding: Kamchatka and

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...

islands, possibly to

Aleuts The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the U ...

. Winter: SE Asia S to N

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Footnotes

References

* VanderWerf, Eric A.; Wiles, Gary J.; Marshall, Ann P. & Knecht, Melia (2006). Observations of migrants and other birds in Palau, April–May 2005, including the first Micronesian record of a Richard's Pipit. ''Micronesica'' 39(1): 11–29
PDF fulltext
* Wiles, Gary J.; Worthington, David J.; Beck, Robert E. Jr.; Pratt, H. Douglas; Aguon, Celestino F. & Pyle, Robert L. (2000). Noteworthy Bird Records for Micronesia, with a Summary of Raptor Sightings in the Mariana Islands, 1988–1999. ''Micronesica'' 32(2): 257–284
PDF fulltext

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4810698

eastern yellow wagtail The eastern yellow wagtail (''Motacilla tschutschensis'') is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. It was often classified as a subspecies of the Western yellow wagtail. This species ...

Native birds of Alaska Birds of North Asia Birds of Manchuria

Systematics

Footnotes

References

Further reading

Books

Articles

External links