White wagtail Motacilla alba

Identification Tips:

• Length: 6 inches
• Slender bill
• Black cap, nape, throat and upper breast
• White forehead and side of face
• Black eyeline
• Gray back
• White patch in wing
• White underparts
• Black tail with white outer tail feathers
• Dark legs
• Female has pale throat
• Juveniles have duller, browner plumage
• Breeds in Alaska

Similar species:

Black-backed Wagtail is similar to White Wagtail. Male has black, not gray, back and more white in wings. Females and juveniles very similar.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.