Wagtail ID

snake · #1 (**permalink**) 07-05-2011, 11:55 AM

I have been seeing a few Blue Headed Wagtails on my patch for a while now.
This morning I came across this little fella, his head is not quite as blue as the others I have been seeing.
Could he be a Channel Wagtail or are they both the same bird?

captaincarot · #2 (**permalink**) 07-05-2011, 01:51 PM

a channel wagtail is a cross between our flavissima yellow wagtail subspecies and the central european flava yellow wagtail subspecies.

they come out with a greyer head than flava which is strange considering ours has a greenish yellow head and a flava has a blue head.

that to me looks like it probably is one as the heads a bit grey

RoyW · #3 (**permalink**) 07-05-2011, 02:29 PM

This is what is frequently referred to as a "Channel" Wagatail, which is a cross between Motacilla flava flavissima and M. f. flava as CC says.

This one is more clearly a hybrid (or intergrade) than many because there are traces of green feathering on the head (rear ear coverts, above the eye, and on the top of the crown).
What have the other "Bue-headed" Wagtails that you have seen looked like? Male M. f. flava actually tend to be more of a grey-blue colour than blue, and only tend to look blue at certain angles, the head colour is also much darker than on this individual. "Channel" Wagtails frequently have a much bluer looking head than 'pure' Blue-headed, although the head colour is a paler 'sky blue'.
("Grey-headed" Wagtails, on their way to Scandinavia are also possible in your area, and elsewhere in the eastern UK at this time of year).

snake · #4 (**permalink**) 08-05-2011, 10:14 AM

Thanks for the replies guys.
Most of the other birds I have seen have a much deeper colour on the head, a blue/ grey colour, not dissimilar to that of the Blue Tit .
I will try and get a few pics of them.

sunnydale · #5 (**permalink**) 08-05-2011, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snake

Super photo Snake. A lovely looking bird too!

Tracey

RoyW · #6 (**permalink**) 08-05-2011, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snake

Most of the other birds I have seen have a much deeper colour on the head, a blue/ grey colour, not dissimilar to that of the Blue Tit .

This does sound like a reasonable description of the most blue looking 'pure' male Blue-headed Wagtails - generally the colour is more likely to look much greyer than the blue colour of a Blue Tit (often almost slate grey), but we have had a lot of sun recently which would help them to look at their best!

Look out for those Grey-headed Wagtails (M. f. thunbergii) as well - these are now moving north to their breeding areas.