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| Blue-headed Wagtail | ||||||||||||||
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Nominate race, M. f. flava | ||||||||||||||
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| Motacilla flava ( Linnaeus, 1758) |
The Blue-headed Wagtail (Motacilla flava) is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws.
This species breeds in much of temperate Europe and AsiaThe continent of Asia is defined by subtracting Europe and Africa from the great land mass of Africa-Eurasia. The boundaries are vague, especially between Asia and Europe: Asia and Africa meet somewhere near the Suez Canal. The boundary between Asia and E and has a foothold in North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocea in AlaskaOn January 3, 1959, Alaska was admitted to the United States as the 49th state. The population of the state is 626,932, as of 2000. The name "Alaska" is most likely derived from the Aleut word for "great country" or "mainland. The natives called it "Alyes. It is resident in the milder parts of its range, such as western Europe, but northern and eastern populations migrateLong-distance land bird migration Many species of land birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere and winter in warmer regions, often in the tropics or the southern he to AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar and south Asia. The American population, sometimes separated as the Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla tschutschensis, winters further down the Pacific coast.
This is an insectivorous bird of open country near water, such as wet meadows. It nests in tussocks, laying 4-8 speckled eggs.
This is a slender 15-16 cm long bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. It is the shortest tailed of the European wagtails. The breeding adult male is basically brown above and yellow below. In other plumages, the yellow may be diluted by white.
The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colours and patterns depending on subspecies. As examples, the nominate M. f. flava of western Europe has a blue-grey head with a white supercilium, whereas the BritishGreat Britain (often abbreviated as Britain is an island lying off the western coast of Europe, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom. Great Britain is also used as a political term describing the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales, subspeciesIn taxonomy, a subspecies is the taxon immediately subordinate to a species. Members of one subspecies differ morphologically but sometimes only genetically from members of other subspecies of the species. Conventions Conventions regarding infra-specific, the Yellow Wagtail (M. f. flavissima) has a yellow head with a brighter yellow supercilium.