Western yellow wagtail

About this species

This species has 2,108,816 occurrence records from 158 countries and territories (GBIF, 21 October 2026). Most records come from Sweden (20.5%), Spain (12.4%), France (9.1%), Denmark (7.1%) and India (5.6%); together they account for 54.7% of the total. In Sweden, this species accounts for 0.42% of all bird records in GBIF.

The scientific name Motacilla flava combines the genus name Motacilla with the species epithet flava. The Warbla app catalog lists 13 species of the genus Motacilla; apart from this one, those with the most GBIF records are Motacilla alba, Motacilla cinerea and Motacilla capensis.

The catalog has GBIF record counts for 68 species of the family Motacillidae. This species ranks 3rd among them; the family’s most-recorded species is Motacilla alba. Its record count is 6.5 times the family average (323,139). The family Motacillidae belongs to the order Passeriformes, which has 6,193 species in the Warbla app catalog.

More birds in the family Motacillidae

• White wagtail
• Grey wagtail
• Cape wagtail
• White-browed wagtail
• Eastern yellow wagtail
• African pied wagtail
• Meadow pipit
• Tree pipit
• European rock pipit
• Water pipit

Credits & data sources

• Wikidata
• GBIF.org