Western Yellow Wagtail
Motacilla flava
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilyMotacillidae (Wagtails and Pipits)
- GenusMotacilla (Wagtails)
- SpeciesMotacilla flava (Western Yellow Wagtail)
The western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) is a small passerine bird in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. This species breeds in much of temperate Europe and Asia. Most populations are migratory, moving south to tropical Africa and southern Asia for the winter; the small population breeding in Egypt is however resident there. It 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 olive above and yellow below. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Lower Zambezi National Park
African Pied Wagtail
Motacilla aguimp
Cape Wagtail
Motacilla capensis
Grassveld Pipit
Anthus cinnamomeus
Meves's Glossy-starling
Lamprotornis mevesii
Fork-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus adsimilis
Common Bulbul
Pycnonotus barbatus
Wire-tailed Swallow
Hirundo smithii
Blue-breasted Cordonbleu
Uraeginthus angolensis
Tropical Boubou
Laniarius major
White-crested Helmetshrike
Prionops plumatus
Red-billed Oxpecker
Buphagus erythrorhynchus
Southern Gray-headed Sparrow
Passer diffusus
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Western Yellow Wagtail at Lower Zambezi National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there