identification of female-type flava wagtails (1 Viewer)

A bit of a tough one this....

However, I was wondering if anyone here has any info on identification of female Blue-headed Wagtail.

Saw one bird at Holland Haven, Essex, today (while dipping on Citrine) which was quite dark, almost brown on top, with a very clearly defined whitish supercilium and a white throat and upper breast, which I thought might be a candidate for female Blue-headed or possibly Channel Wagtail.

However, most of the literature conveniently ignores the existence of female flava wagtails!

Maybe if someone has pics of female Channel and/or Blue-headed Wag they could post them so I can see what the deal is!

Thanks!

check the pipits and wagtails book by Per Alstrom. An excellent reference

try a google image search

maybe link king Jan will be able to help - he usually pulls something helpful out of the bag imagewise

Hi AH.

Have a look at this:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=57704&highlight=yellow+wagtail

and this, taken in Britain:
http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=22715

http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/79978/sort/1/cat/all/page/4

One can say that due to variation it´s not safe to distinguish female Blue-headed flava from flavissima. I´m not saying that your bird isn´t a Blue-headed, it might well be.
Some female Blue-headed here:

http://www.tarsiger.com/index.php?p...=true&family=&species=51100&name=Keltav%E4st%
E4r%E4kki%2C+Yellow+Wagtail%2C+Motacilla+flava&lang=eng

http://www.wildbirdgallery.com/images/birds/motacilla_flava/flava.htm

Some Hungarian birds, Blue-headed?

http://www.birdingfaqs.com/A31 Yellow Wagtail Females.JPG

http://www.birdpix.nl/album_search....e&search=blue-headed+wagtail&personal_album=0

From Sweden:

http://www.pbase.com/image/58514215

http://www.pbase.com/image/43112012

Tim´s suggestion on the book is very good!

JanJ

OK, that's great, thanks! I reckon it will have to stand as a possible/probable Blue-headed/Channel Wagtail. It certainly did stand out and showed a few of the features indicative of Blue-headed mentioned in the links above, but I guess I cannot be certain.

Hi Jan (and all),

What do you think of this?

http://media.putfile.com/Wagtail---Martin-Mere-May-2006

I filmed it on Sunday in Lancashire. I've freeze-framed some interesting profiles and slowed it down, but sorry for the overall quality. It was on maximum zoom and hand held. Excuses excuses...

Tom

The one I saw yesterday was in some respects similar to that bird, but its head markings were generally darker and more striking. It looked more like this bird, photographed by Sean Nixon at Abberton yesterday (although with less yellow):

http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery12

Hi all.

All (?) the following might be intergrades flava/flavissima. According to Alström & Mild the head pattern of such supposed birds range from close to either parent ssp to any intermediate state. Many of them could roughly be devided into 4 categories:
1. birds with yellowish green forehead, crown and ear-coverts as in flavissima but with white supercilium and grey nape as in flava.
2.With grey forehead, crown and ear-coverts, except rear part, greenish nape and rear ear-coverts, white supercilium, often tinged yellowish, and generally larger white area on ear-coverts than in typicall flava.
3. individuals reminiscent of beema or pale flava, paler grey forehead, crown and nape and larger white area on ear-coverts than typicall flava, but supercilium often tinged yellowish.
4. Individuals which are closely similar to leucocephala (White-headed yellow Wagtail) NW Mongolia.
Majority of intermediates are of type 1 and 2.

Since these are supposed intergrades, one can´t for certain confirm their true identity. Some first summer male flava has a whitish throat contrasting with yellow underparts or paler yellow underparts, as do the occasionally adult male flava.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=56430&highlight=yellow+wagtail

Essex bird:
http://www.surfbirds.com/media/gallery_photos/20060509042909.jpg

Bucks bird:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=57704&highlight=yellow+wagtail

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=56749&highlight=yellow+wagtail

JanJ

what's a Channel Wagtail ?

Larry Wheatland said:

what's a Channel Wagtail ?

Click to expand...

It's a kind of slang name for hybrids between Yellow wagtails flavissima and Blue-headed Wagtails flava. Apparantly not uncommon in e.g. northern France. Variable in appearance but have a similarity to Sykes's Wagtail (beema). Most (if not all?) claims of 'beema' in the past have probably been these Channel wagtails.

Larry Wheatland said:

what's a Channel Wagtail ?

Click to expand...

"Nominate Blue-headed Wagtail and Yellow Wagtail form a narrow hybrid zone in northern France. Birds from this zone vary in appearance, but one type, which resembles nominate Blue-headed Wagtail (except that the blue tones to the head are paler and more mauve and the white the head is more extensive, particularly on the throat, ear-coverts, and supercilium) is colloquially referred to as Channel Wagtail".

JanJ