Yellow Wagtail

Above: Yellow Wagtail (female)
Below: Blue-headed/Yellow Wagtail cross known as a Channel Wagtail.

The yellow wagtail is a summer visiting migrant to the UK. They breed in Britain and can be seen between the months of April and September. I have to confess that I've not found them easy birds to locate but late April and early May, when the birds are on their inbound passage, has proved most successful for me.

They prefer open areas, like inland freshwater, marshes, estuaries and damp fields and meadows. They can often be associated with livestock, eating the insects disturbed by the animals as they graze.

They are almost unmistakable. Although it's possible to get them confused with the grey wagtail, which also has a good deal of intense yellow, it's not if you get a good view. In British breeding the birds the male has a greenish yellow back and crown with black, edged white, primaries. The tail is also black with prominent white edges, especially visible when in flight. The face, chin, belly, breast and vent are a deep vivid yellow, making him a truly handsome specimen. The legs and beak are black. As for the female she is similar only the yellow is less intense and her face has more of the yellowish green colour of her back than the bright yellow of the male, especially on her cheeks.

That's just the British breeding race of these birds. There are a number of clearly different sub-species that breed in various parts of the rest of Europe. There is the black-headed, blue-headed, ashy-headed and a few more besides. Some of these rarer varieties do turn up in the UK so are worth watching out for. The one you are most likely to see is the blue-headed wagtail. This breeds in the Normandy area of France so we tend to get a few over-shooting and arriving in Britain. They are similar to the bird shown below left only with much less white on the chin. This specimen is probably a yellow wagtail/blue-headed wagtail cross, known as a channel wagtail, after the strip of water separating the normal breeding ranges of these two sub species (i.e. The English Channel).

As I stated above, I've found these birds quite hard to find but have had most success in late April and early May. I've seen them at Marbury Country Park in Cheshire around the edge of Budworth Mere, but my favourite (and most reliable place) is Frodsham Marsh. There are a lot of posts lining the paths around here and they seem to like using them as perches. They seem to know that they are good looking and want to show off. So, not too timid in my experience and the usual rule of 'slow movement only' can get you reasonably close.

Other places worth a try are some of the 'permit holders only' reservoirs in Staffordshire. Regular pictures from these sites turn up on the Birdguides web site. You can also check the photo archive to see where recent pictures have been taken in your area.