-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
hello, birders, I took a bird with some strange features. A hybrid of Motacilla alba with Motacilla cinerea or a strange Motacilla cinerea only? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter mitosu
- Start date
Alexander Stöhr
Well-known member
Hello,
welcome to Birdforum!
Thanks for sharing this interesting bird! I havent experience with wagtails from Taiwan (presuming your bird is from there?).
(With black legs and such a broad supercilium it is not a pure Grey Wagtail completly lacking yellow, except in the greater coverts)...
But yes, I better wait and like you I hope for comments. Thanks!
welcome to Birdforum!
Thanks for sharing this interesting bird! I havent experience with wagtails from Taiwan (presuming your bird is from there?).
(With black legs and such a broad supercilium it is not a pure Grey Wagtail completly lacking yellow, except in the greater coverts)...
But yes, I better wait and like you I hope for comments. Thanks!
Hi mitosu and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. I'll move your post to the more appropriate ID forum where there are more people able to assist you.
They're superb pictures - I hope we will be able to see more of your images in the Gallery before too long.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
They're superb pictures - I hope we will be able to see more of your images in the Gallery before too long.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
johnallcock
Well-known member
Hmmm. A very interesting bird. As Alexander mentioned, it shouldn't be a pure Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) because of the black legs, grey rump and grey flanks. The head pattern seems wrong for Grey Wagtail as well - broader supercilium, paler ear coverts, narrow submoustachial and black 'spur' from the bib, but it is closer to Grey than to White Wagtail (Motacilla alba).
The closest White Wagtail subspecies is probably ocularis. Juveniles can sometimes show greyish ear coverts and a weak eyestripe, creating a head pattern similar to your bird. But this should be moulted during the winter and I've never seen in a spring bird, in combination with a black bib as on your bird (also, the crown should be blacker and forehead should be white in breeding season). Besides, ocularis (and in fact all east Asian White Wagtails) usually shows a lot more white in the greater and median wing coverts during the breeding season.
So I'm not really sure what it is, but I'd tend to agree that a hybrid Grey Wagtail x White Wagtail is the most likely explanation.
The closest White Wagtail subspecies is probably ocularis. Juveniles can sometimes show greyish ear coverts and a weak eyestripe, creating a head pattern similar to your bird. But this should be moulted during the winter and I've never seen in a spring bird, in combination with a black bib as on your bird (also, the crown should be blacker and forehead should be white in breeding season). Besides, ocularis (and in fact all east Asian White Wagtails) usually shows a lot more white in the greater and median wing coverts during the breeding season.
So I'm not really sure what it is, but I'd tend to agree that a hybrid Grey Wagtail x White Wagtail is the most likely explanation.
Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
Nothing further to add except what a smart looking bird!
johnallcock
Well-known member
As well as the head pattern, the wing pattern is also unusual for any of the Eastern races of White Wagtail, which usually show a lot more white in the adult wing coverts (note that the bird shows moult contrast in the greater coverts, so most of the ones seen are adult). Maybe western alba could show this pattern as an adult but that wouldn't explain the head pattern (and would be a long way out of range).
It's a very unusual combination of plumage features that I can't easily explain. As I mentioned before, some features of the head pattern and the wing pattern could fit a first-winter autumn ocularis, but this is in May, with adult wing coverts and a black bib...
They're pretty dark grey - nearer the colour of the blackish uppertail than of the obviously-mid-grey rump (with which they contrast).
They are jet-black (with white outer web) in all White Wagtails.
Similar threads
