Yellow Wagtail

There is a lot of confusion over these birds as new information from DNA and other sources has introduced a lot of changes at both species and sub-species levels. It is thought that both Eastern and Western species could winter in Sri Lanka, but due to changing and overlapping plumage variations it is often impossible to separate them reliably even into species, let alone sub-species. They can even be confused with the similar Grey Wagtail which has a longer tail and greyer back.