Eastern yellow wagtail

The eastern yellow wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis) is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. It was formerly usually classified as a subspecies of the western yellow wagtail, but was split from it in 2003 when genetic data showed this classification to be paraphyletic with respect to the citrine wagtail. It breeds in the eastern Palearctic and Alaska and migrates to South Asia and Australia.

It is a slender 15–16 cm long bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. The breeding adult male is basically olive-green above and yellow below. In other plumages, particularly first-winter birds but also many females, the yellow may be diluted by white. The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colours and patterns depending on subspecies. The bill and legs are black; the hind claw is long and not strongly curved, which distinguishes it reliably from western yellow wagtail which has a shorter, more strongly curved hind claw (though this is often difficult to observe on birds in grass).

The call is a characteristic high-pitched zrri or jeet, shriller and more rasping than the call of western yellow wagtails.