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Motacilla flava beema - skyes yellow wagtail (4 Viewers)

Marcio Cachapela

Active member
Hi all.
I would like to have a positive ID for this wagtail, saw yesterday, 24/01/2020, at the Tagus estuary, Portugal.
Pale grey head, white supercilium, yellow on throat, for mw it seems a skyes yellow wagtail, motacilla flava beema. What do you think?
Thanks in advance
 

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24/01/2020, it's very early, even for Portugal.
A simple flava flava is most likely.
Jean

I don't think its been mentioned yet on Birdforum, that Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis has been found wintering last winter and this in the Tejo Estuary natural park by Lisbon. At least 2-3 individuals have been photographed and their voices recorded by Magnus Robb. There have been other flava type wagtails seen too.

I couldn't begin to identify the bird in the OP though!

Saying that however, why cannot this bird be a young male M. flava iberiae?
 
I don't think its been mentioned yet on Birdforum, that Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis has been found wintering last winter and this in the Tejo Estuary natural park by Lisbon. At least 2-3 individuals have been photographed and their voices recorded by Magnus Robb. There have been other flava type wagtails seen too.

I couldn't begin to identify the bird in the OP though!

Saying that however, why cannot this bird be a young male M. flava iberiae?

Yellow on throat excludes ssp iberiae. At Leziria already saw a lot of iberiae and even in the young birds you dont see yellow on throat.
 
Yellow on throat excludes ssp iberiae. At Leziria already saw a lot of iberiae and even in the young birds you dont see yellow on throat.

:t: That's true and thanks for the correction Marcio - and I've been saying just what you said for years, it was a lapse on my part (while thinking of iberiae) - I had meant to say M.f.flava. All the same - I'm not sure how to be sure about birds like yours in the winter. The amount of recent wintering records in the Tejo estuary area is very interesting. A new thing or just not noticed in the past? I'd expect that its a new thing.

The first of our very own returning iberiae should be just about appearing at breeding sites very soon. At least by mid February.
 
M.f. cinereocapilla is reported, though I haven't seen (can't find?) the beema report....The people on the ground are basically saying that calls are needed to confirm these little beasts.

I must say that Marcio's bird does look very good as does the cinereocapilla

So, quite a nice mix for the "stew" :eat:
 
I would be very surprised if you could rule out flava with any degree of certainty for Marcio's bird on looks alone, and AFAIK beema (flight) calls are very similar to those of flava.

Lützen
 
It was on E bird - rare bird alert - seemingly with these photos by the way...

Ps. With a girlfriend in Lisbon I’ve started taking interest in birds around there. Missed the two Pallid Harriers though! I had two Pied Wagtails, 2 little Bustards and one ‘yellow’ wagtail (which disappeared into a ditch) on last visit....
 
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It was on E bird - rare bird alert - seemingly with these photos by the way...

Thanks, I'd missed looking there! Portugals ebird reviewers are very good indeed - so lets see.

Ps. With a girlfriend in Lisbon I’ve started taking interest in birds around there. Missed the two Pallid Harriers though! I had two Pied Wagtails, 2 little Bustards and one ‘yellow’ wagtail (which disappeared into a ditch) on last visit....

Great, the Tejo Estuary and other spots close to Lisbon give excellent birding. Just look at all these Black-tailed Godwits! https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=789830591523698
 
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