Whilst birding the
Jubail area in the spring I came across a number of different subspecies/types of Yellow
Wagtails. These included birds showing characteristics of dombrowskii which is
an intergrade between feldegg (Black-headed Wagtail) and flava (Blue-headed
Wagtail) and supeciliaris which is an
intergrade between feldegg (Black-headed Wagtail) and lutea (Yellow-headed
Wagtail), flava (Blue-headed Wagtail) or beema (Sykes’s Wagtail). Both
'superciliaris' and 'dombrowskii' can be seen on spring migration in the Middle
East and most authors agree that 'superciliaris', 'xanthophrys' and
'dombrowskii' are intergrades, as no area is known in which the majority of the
population match any of these forms, and the majority of breeding records of
'superciliaris' and 'dombrowskii' come from the wide zone of intergradation between
feldegg and flava. Intergrades between feldegg and flava are highly variable in
the colour of the crown, and many birds are intermediate and difficult to place
in either 'superciliaris' or 'dombrowskii'. Also thunbergi or Grey-headed
Wagtail which occurs from Scandinavia eastwards to northwest Siberia and
winters mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and across S & SE Asia. M. f. flava or
Blue-headed Wagtail which occurs from northern and central Europe east to the
Urals and winters in sub-Saharan Africa. M. f. melanogrisea or Eastern
Black-headed Wagtail which occurs from the Volga Delta and southwest Kazakhstan
south to northeast Iran and Afghanistan and winters mainly in south Asia
eastwards to western Nepal and possibly also northeast Africa.
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| dombrowskii type |
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| dombrowskii type |
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| supercilliaris type |
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| supercilliaris type |
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| thunbergi |
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| thunbergi |
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| thunbergi |
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| melanogrisea |
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| flava |
