Grey-headed or Dark-headed Yellow Wagtail Pictures and Detail (Motacilla flava thunbergi)

Wagtail, Grey-headed, Yellow, Dark Headed
A Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail

Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail or Dark-headed Yellow Wagtail 



The most difficult thing is to find the exact name of wagtail because we can find many wagtails and their subspecies. It took me 5 hours to reach at this conclusion that this a Grey-headed or Dark-headed yellow wagtail. In Punjab, India, Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail is mentioned in a list of birds found in Punjab. 

This bird is a subspecies of Western Yellow Wagtail; therefore, many people commonly refer it as a Yellow Wagtail and its scientific name is Motocilla Flava thunbergi. In the tiny birds, we can find many varieties of birds and their subspecies make your job even tougher. 


Grey-headed Wagtail
Grey-headed Wagtail

These birds are Dark Grey or Grey headed till the cheeks. We find white color on checks in females which may be missing in male Dark-headed yellow wagtails. They have olive color above and yellow color on the bottom and in some cases we can find presence of some white color on the bottom.

These are insectivorous birds (the bird which eats insects only) and can be found in fields, open grounds, near water looking for insects. These birds are 15-16 cm long and they have a long tail. It is a common attribute of these birds to wag their tail; therefore, they got the name wagtail.

Dark-headed Wagtail

Dark-headed Yellow Wagtail give their eggs on the ground in tussocks. Some of these birds are residential in nature and some migrate from cold places to hotter places in winter.

Many bird watches and scientists believe that it is very confusing to exactly classify these birds because of so much similarity and presence of many subspecies.

Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail
Grey-headed yellow Wagtail from Back
We do not get many chances of seeing these birds because their small numbers and small size. In last one year, I saw this bird only one time. I hope to meet this bird and also love to learn more about it.

All Pictures of grey-headed yellow wagtail taken by me in Punjab (India).

Any person who has more information on this bird, then they can share it with me. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coppersmith Barbet Pictures and Detail (A beautiful Tiny Green Bird)

Brown-headed Barbet Pictures and Detail (A Fatty Green Bird with Brown Top)

The Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus Cafer) pictures, video and Detail

The Red-wattled Lapwing Pictures and Detail (A Bird with Lady like Walk)

Indian (House) Crow (Corvus Splendens) Pictures, My Experience with Indian Crows

The Greater Coucal Or Crow Pheasant (Centropus sinensis) Pictures and Detail

Purple Sunbird Pictures and Detail (Cinnyris asiaticus) Male/Female both Pictures

Hoopoe Pictures and Detail (Upupa epops) A Colorful Bird with a Crown

Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis) Pictures and Detail

Jungle Babbler (Turdoides striata) Pictures and Detail (Angry Bird)