As I saw my first Yellow Wagtail of the year this week I thought it might be good to explain a little about them and the ones you are likely to see in East Anglia.

There are three Wagtails you are likely to see, then there are different races, I say three although some would argue the second race of the pied should be classed a separate Wagtail would make it four wagtails you are likely to see.

There are two vagrant Wagtails that occasionally turn up on our shores, the Eastern Yellow Wagtail a rare vagrant from Asia of which there have been around 11 confirmed sightings in the last 100 years, the latest being Winter 2019 in North Norfolk, this male was still there in January of this year.

And another vagrant from Asia the Citrine wagtail, less than 350 records of this wagtail, mainly seen September to October most of which are on the coast or marshy areas so good chance if you are going to see one is in East Anglia.

But enough of the rare birds and lets look at the ones you are likely to see.

First the Pied Wagtail (Mortacilla alba) and the race yarrellii, is the one most common to Britain, black rump, long black and white tail, black legs, white face, in the Summer a black bib and Winter a black chest band, the male has a Black back and the female dark grey you will have seen this bird walking with a fast run and constantly bobbing it’s tail, can bee seen in large numbers in winter forming evening roosts on buildings like Supermarkets where I guess they are getting the heat from the buildings.

The White Wagtail which is the race alba is a frequent migrant of Continental Europe, grey rump, grey back, white/pale grey on the flanks and belly, sometimes can be confused with females of race yarrellii but can easier to identify in the Spring when the male has a defined line between black nape and the grey back. Unfortunately I do not have any White wagtail images but the female below would give you an idea on colouring to look for in a Male White wagtail the black bib on the front would be more defined into the grey and would extend up to the lower bill

The Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea is more associated fast running rivers, mill streams and clean rivers, in the Winter you have more chances of seeing them in the East Anglia where they will visit garden ponds and as I have seen them sewage works where insects are to be found on the filter beds. Do not be fooled by the name as this attractive bird is bright yellow underneath (sometimes mistaken as a Yellow Wagtail), the only wagtail with pale legs and the longest tail, slate grey above and yellow/green rump.

I have used an image of a young Grey Wagtail below, it is just getting the yellow below but this can be very vibrant on the adults in the Summer the male will have a black chin and the female will be white, some may think this young bird could be a young pied, but the main give away is the pale legs only found on the grey wagtail, all the other wagtails the legs are black.

The last wagtail you are likely to see in East Anglia and in large numbers especially near cattle is the Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava this migrant will start appearing in April and will start to leave us in October, the race that breeds here in the summer is by far the most colourful, the British or Western Yellow Wagtail is race flavissima, Male is green above, Yellow face and underparts, female tends to be grey/ brown/olive above, yellow to buff underneath. They can be found in cereal fields, wet meadows and around cattle, usually seen running between the legs of the cattle as they stir up insects. there are various races of the Yellow Wagtail that you may be lucky enough to see, Blue-headed race flava is a one of the regular seen in Spring, Channel Wagtail which is a hybrid race flavissima/flava, Ashy-headed race cinereocapilla rare, Grey-headed race thunbergi rare, Black-headed race feldegg a vagrant. There is a very good article about Yellow Wagtails and how to identify the different forms in Birdwatch magazine May 2020 – issue 334 https://pocketmags.com/birdwatch-magazine.

Hopefully this has given you an idea of the Wagtails you are likely to see in East Anglia and now is the time you have the chance to see a more rare race, just to give you an idea of your chances a couple of years back whilst I was at work I looked out of the window and counted about 37 Yellow Wagtails all running around the grass following the cattle, I joked with a volunteer we need to find a Blue-headed one amongst them, 5 minutes later I had found one.

References Britain’s Birds, An identification guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland, Hume, Still, Swash, Harrop and Tipling, published 2016 ISBN 978-0-691-15889-1