Yellow Wagtail photographed at Colin Best NR [CNR] on 21/4/2010 Photo: © Chris Bale (visit site)

Common passage migrant but has declined in recent years. Formerly bred in very small numbers; last bred in 1970.

Yellow Wagtails are common passage migrant in all the islands but the numbers passing through have probably declined since the publication of Smith's account in the 1880s. Yellow Wagtails are a regular spring and autumn migrant, although more birds are recorded in autumn. There is one old record of of a bird shot on 19 December 1899 (Dobson), a date more conducive to Citrine Wagtail. Unfortunately this specimen has long since disappeared.

In spring, the first birds generally arrive in the second week of April and the number recorded peaks in the last week of April and the first week of May. In the autumn passage takes place throughout September with a few birds in August and October.

Most recent records have refered either to single birds flying over or small groups. Yellow Wagtails favour areas with high densities of insects and include fields with short grass (especially those with livestock), wet meadows, beaches with high densities of the vraic fly and brackish and fresh-water ponds. During passage periods, especially in autumn, Yellow Wagtails can be found in suitable habits in both inland and coastal areas, although most records do some from coastal areas.

In most years Yellow Wagtails on autumn migration roost in one or more of the islands reedbeds. Numbers have declined dramatically and roosts of >20 birds are now uncommon. In the 1970s and 1980s some roosts reached several hundred birds and the decline of this species across Europe has probably led to the reduced numbers passing through the islands.

There are a sporadic series of breeding records this century. Dobson records probable breeding attempts at Grandes Rocques and the formerly wet meadows at La Mare de Carteret and during the late 1950s at least 2 pairs bred at St Sampsons Marais (Transactions 1960: p22). In 1963, four nests were found there and one at the Vale Pond (Transactions). The Guernsey Bird News mentions 2 pairs at the marais in 1969 and 1970. In both years these birds successfully hatched at least one clutch and were seen carrying food. Several juveniles fledged in 1969. After this date there are no explicit references to breeding birds although one record refers to 7 including 2 juveniles on 4 May 1975 (GBN). This is an incredibly early date and it is likely that the observer was mistaken in the identification of juveniles. By 1977, Yellow Wagtail was classified as a non breeder (Earl checklist in Transactions) and it must have disappeared sometime in the intervening years.

Each year, small numbers of the blue-headed nominate race are seen on spring pasage (first recorded in June 1966) and the black-headed feldegg forms are recorded every few years.