NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Alaska Wagtail
Motacilla tschutschensis Gmelin, 1789
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis tschutschensis, Kamchatka, Russia.
valerkov · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The eastern yellow wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis) is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. It was formerly usually classified as a subspecies of the western yellow wagtail, but was split from it in 2003 when genetic data showed this classification to be paraphyletic with respect to the citrine wagtail. It breeds in the eastern Palearctic and Alaska and migrates to South Asia and Australia.
Wikipedia contributors, Eastern yellow wagtail; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:48:34.182800+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Motacilla tschutschensis Gmelin, 1789
- Name authority
- Gmelin, 1789
- Common name
- Alaska Wagtail
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
- Genus
- Motacilla
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMotacillidae Horsfield, 1821
- genusMotacilla Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesMotacilla tschutschensis Gmelin, 1789
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Motacilla. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| African Pied WagtailMotacilla aguimp Temminck, 1820 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White WagtailMotacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gray WagtailMotacilla cinerea Tunstall, 1771 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Western Yellow WagtailMotacilla flava Linnaeus, 1758 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Madagascar WagtailMotacilla flaviventris Hartlaub, 1860 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Japanese WagtailMotacilla grandis Sharpe, 1885 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Motacilla samveasnae J. W. Duckworth, Alstrom, P. Davidson, T. D. Evans, C. M. Poole, T. Setha & R. J. Timmins, 2001 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cape WagtailMotacilla capensis Linnaeus, 1766 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Citrine WagtailMotacilla citreola Pallas, 1776 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grey-backed WagtailMotacilla clara Sharpe, 1908 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Large Pied WagtailMotacilla maderaspatensis Gmelin, 1789 | MotacillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Motacilla flava tschutschensis Gmelin, 1789 Gmelin, 1789 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
North America
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=726116 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:44G9N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.