adult male

adult male adult female European distribution winter adult feeding on mud

Identification

Adult male Citrine Wagtails are quite gorgeous birds with dazzling yellow heads bordered by a neat black scarf. The yellow extends down the rest of the underparts, the upperparts are basically grey with white wing bars. In other plumages they show variable amounts of yellow but the impression is usually of a White Wagtail with a yellow face. To confirm that your bird isn't a Yellow Wagtail, look at how there is a complete pale border around the ear coverts. Juveniles in autumn can be completely devoid of yellow and so look even more like White Wagtails, but the lack of a broad, dark ring across the breast should prevent confusion.

Habitat

Passage visitor and scarce breeding species on marshes and lakesides.

Migration

The Citrine Wagtail is a migratory bird spending the winters in India and south-east Asia.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Citrine Wagtail is classed as Rare: species currently considered for acceptance by the British Birds Rarities Committee (or forms of equivalent rarity).

Spurn, E Yorks 15/08/2010	Spurn, E Yorks 15/08/2010	Parnu Sewage Ponds, Estonia 01/05/2010	Parnu Sewage Ponds, Estonia 01/05/2010	Beidaihe, Hebei, China 10/05/2010
Tresco, Scilly 25/10/2009	Tresco, Scilly 26/10/2009	Porkeri, Suduroy, Faroe Islands 12/10/2009	Dungarvan, Waterford 28/09/2009	Dungarvan, Waterford 26/09/2009

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This species has been reported in the following areas (Bird News Extra subscribers can click a county name for more details):

Citrine Wagtail breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Armenia
Belarus
Estonia
Finland
Georgia
Germany
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Turkey
Ukraine

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	Citrine Wagtail, Conwy RSPB, 30th April 2008	Tuesday 6th May 2008
	Reserve Manager Julian Hughes recounts finding a top patch bird.

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