Appearance:

Adult male easily recognized with all yellow head with dark edges and grey back. Prominent white wing-bars and all dark bill, lacking the pale base of Yellow Wagtail. Females and adult winter lacks the dark lore-stripe of Yellow Wagtail, and the flanks are grey. The same applies to the juveniles. These also give a very grey impression, almost resembling a Pied Wagtail without the dark breast-pattern. Juvenile Yellow Wagtails have a less grey and more olive tone to their backs. The dark facial markings/earcoverts of females/winter/juveniles birds are usually framed by the continuation of the strong supercilium. Some Yellow Wagtails are very similar to Citrine, and call and tail length should be considered as well (tail longer in Citrine).

Sound:

Contact call resembles Yellow Wagtail, but is harsher with a more buzzing quality, and of shorter duration. The pitch is more constant, lacking the rise and fall of Yellow Wagtail. The song is a loose repetition of phrases, comprised of disyllabic or monosyllabic contact calls.

Contact call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

Sounds:Recorded by Jelmer Poelstra,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license

Appearance:

Large Sylvia with dark hood and pale iris (adult birds). Lacks red orbital ring of Sardinian Warbler. Tertials and coverts without pale fringes. Very similar to Eastern Orphean Warbler (S. crassirostris), but generally the distribution of the two do not overlap. Typical birds also show some differences in plumage like; no dark centres to under tail coverts and warm buff underparts, flanks and vent (variable). The border between the dark hood and grey neck is more diffuse, the back is browner and the bill slightly shorter. Young vagrants with poorly developed characters may be inseparable from S. crassirostris by appearance. Both species differ from Lesser Whitethroat by; stronger bill, no white crescents around eye and darker upper tail. Movements less agile than smaller congeners.

Sound:

Alarm call a short and sharp "tek" recalling Blackcap, often given in series. Also a dry, rasping "turrrr". Both calls are more or less identical to S. crassirostris. Song much more different from latter, but timbre of fluting sounds is similar, recalling that of Blue Rock Thrush. Overall the song is simpler than S. crassirostris, with shorter phrases, longer pauses and a more restricted register. Motifs consists largely of pleasant fluting, often dominated by alternation between two notes, and are often repeated with small variations.

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-photo:Agustín Povedano, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Jorrit Vlot, Licence,Link.