On December 17, 2024, Judy and I were taking a tour of the Western Range of Kaziranga NP in Assam, India. We photographed two eastern yellow wagtails that were acknowledged as such by our guide and also one other identifier on iNaturalist.
There are four subspecies and Assam, India does not fall within their normal range (see the range map below). Wikipedia notes that "most migrate to south-east Asia and Australia in the winter but the non-breeding range extends as far west as eastern India [where Assam is] and Sri Lanka." It inhabits open country near water, such as wet meadows, like these were in. Birds of the World notes "[c]omplex, marked variation in coloration, mainly involving head pattern of Alternate-plumaged male. White supercilium varies in extent and may be lacking entirely; color of throat varies from yellow to white...Subspecies vary mainly in head color/pattern of breeding male, with females and immatures often very difficult to assign to race (even when seen together in non-breeding areas)." They are sexually dimorphic in plumage - the female is similar to the male, but paler. In winter plumage, "both sexes [are] similar but duller overall, being browner on head and upperparts, and much paler yellowish below; upperparts veiled olive." Immatures may be duller, have underparts with little yellow, especially in females and a more pronounced gray necklace.
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| Birds of the World illustration of adult female ssp. tschutschensis (with the non-breeding female being less yellow). |
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| Illustration of immature ssp. tschutschensis from Birds of the World. |
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| Breeding range from Birds of the World. |
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