White or Pied?

Hi all,

I assume this is a White Wagtail which are very common migrants to the country these days. But how does a White can be different with a Pied with an initial observation? As when I see the pictures of both the species I'm so confused to differentiate them.

2 comments

Tommy Pedersen

Mar 18, 2019

Good question. Pied Wagtails are of the subspecies yarrellii and lives in the UK. They do not migrate, and are quite dark: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/pied-wagtail/

Why eBird uses White/Pied Wagtail in the UAE I do not know, but will look into this. We are seeing the White Wagtail, Motacilla alba alba subspecies, AND rarely the Masked Wagtail :-)

Pied Wagtail yarrellii

Shareez Assan

Mar 18, 2019

Hi Tommy,

Thanks for your valuable feedback.