230
PLATE 108: ACCENTORS AND WAGTAILS I
Radde’s Accentor Prunella ocularis V
L: 15.5. Long, broad white supercilium, blackish crown and ear-coverts, whitish throat, dark-
spotted malar stripe and peach wash on unstreaked breast (but often boldly streaked flanks)
distinctive. Juvenile similar to adult but crown brownish, streaked darker; sides of throat, breast,
and flanks more heavily streaked; underparts paler buff-white. Voice Calls and song Dunnock-like;
song weaker and slower, rising and falling, with trembling quality, di-diii-diii-diii-diii or slee-vit-chur-
chur-tui. Habitat Low scrub and boulders in mountains, 2500–3500m; in winter down to 1000m.
Note Partial migrant; winter hatched; vagrant Kuwait, Oman.Black-throated Accentor Prunella atrogularis V
L: 15. Black throat-patch diagnostic, though in autumn/winter less well defined or even hidden
by pale fringes (mainly first-winter females); such pale-throated individuals have supercilium
palest/whitish in front of eye and not concolorous with throat and breast. First-winter individuals
told from Radde’s Accentor by black throat, paler, slightly streaked brown crown and ear-coverts
(not solid dark), off-white to buff supercilium, absence of dark malar, and slightly warmer brown
upperparts. Voice Call a soft trrt. Habitat Weedy patches, scrub, gardens in mountain villages.
Note Vagrant Kuwait, Oman.Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus wv
L: 17. Unique in having two broad blackish breast-bands, one across upper breast, the other
below, broken; underparts otherwise white, washed very pale yellow or creamy. Upperparts olive-
brown, wings dark with broad buff-white wing-bars; also a thin white supercilium; tail blackish
with white outer feathers. Pipit-like movements on the ground, usually in woodland; does not wag
tail but sways body from side to side. Perches freely in under-canopy, where it remains when
disturbed from ground. Voice Call a loud, abrupt Chaffinch-like pink or pink-pink. Habitat On ground
in clearings in damp forest or plantation, often near water. Note Very rare passage and winter
visitor; vagrant Kuwait.Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea WV
L: 18. In all plumages has yellow vent and undertail-coverts, greyish back, bold white translucent
bar at base of flight feathers (in flight), very long tail and extremely undulating flight. Male in
summer has black throat and white sub-moustachial stripe; female has less black or even whitish
throat; immature has white throat and buff, not yellow breast. Legs pinkish-brown (black in other
Motacilla wagtails). Tail-wagging more pronounced than in other Motacilla wagtails. Voice Call
distinctive, resembles White Wagtail but harder, more metallic and high-pitched, a piercing tzi-lit or
tsiziss, or loud chink, usually given in bouncing flight. Song a distinctive series of sharp mechanical
notes. Habitat Wooded streams, wadis, pools, trickles. Note Passage and winter hatched.Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola PM, WV
L: 18. Male unmistakable; subspecies citreola has bright yellow head and underparts, black neck-
band and grey upperparts; werae (breeds Turkey) has no (or reduced) neck-band and less-rich yellow
underparts; calcarata male in summer has pitch black mantle and largely white coverts. Broad
pure white double wing-bars characteristic at all ages. Female from Western Yellow Wagtail
by greyish upperparts (tinged olive-brown in Western Yellow), yellow supercilium surrounding
grey-brown cheeks merging on sides of neck and yellowish throat. First-autumn birds have grey
upperparts, pale surround to ear-coverts, often pale forehead and lores, whitish underparts
without yellow, prominent wing-bars and broadly fringed dark tertials. Voice Call pronounced
buzzy tsreep; sometimes a double zielip; some eastern ‘flavas’ call rather similarly. Song recalls
Western Yellow Wagtail, generally shriller. Habitat Breeds 1,500–2,500m in swampy meadows or
near streams. Outside breeding season near fresh water, lagoons or sewage ponds. Note Passage
and winter hatched (all races), but very rare in north in winter. Subspecies calcarata breeds NE Iran;
vagrant Oman.