[franz.heymann]

Hello,
I am new to this forum. I am ancient, namely 79 years of age. I am a retired physicist with a lifelong interest in birdwatching, although my eyes are not quite what they ought to be.

Which brings me to a question:
In the gallery, there is a new photo of a white wagtail. Please tell me what the diagnostic factor is which distinguishes the bird in the photo from a pied wagtail

Franz

[digi-birder]

Hello Franz, on behalf of admin and all the moderators, a warm welcome to Bird Forum. You will settle in here in no time, no matter what age you are. Everyone is helpful and friendly and we hope you enjoy taking part in the discussions.

I will leave the answering of your question to one of our resident experts. I'm sure it won't be long before someone steps in.

[Jasonbirder]

I haven`t seen the photo yet (pictures disabled on internet viewer in office!) but i`ll double check back and look later...the key differences between classic White & classic Pied are that the Black Cap & Black chin-bib area are seperated not joined, and that there is a clear demarcation between the black cap and a paler slate-grey mantle, as a general rule White tends to have much cleaner flanks too...hope that helps

[Sal]

Hi Franz and a warm welcome to birdforum. I am sure you will enjoy being part of this great group of people and will always find someone who will be able to answer your questions - I am not that person being fairly amateur in my understanding of bird classification. As far as I know, they are the same species. . . .

[Colin]

Franz,
In addition to all the good information that Jason has given you, the White Wagtail has a grey and not a black rump although this can be difficult to see with the wings folded over it. Better to see when taking off away from you.

[Jane Turner]

Another more subtle thing I find is that White's look slimmer and marginally longer tailed than Pieds. I'm not sure it that is a verifiable feature, but to me they always seem to be losing control of their tails in gusts of wind. I'm very lucky with the number of Whites I see. Counts around the 100 mark are pretty common in spring at the bottom of my garden.

I had a brief career as a physicist too.