White Wagtail ssp leucopsis

White Wagtail Motacilla alba is one of the most common and widespread of the world’s birds. It has an estimated stable population of between 130 and 230 million and a breeding range of 92 million square kilometres. It is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae which also includes the pipits and longclaws. This species breeds in much of Europe and Asia and parts of north Africa. It is resident in the mildest parts of its range, but otherwise migrates to Africa.

White Wagtail was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae, and remarkably it still bears its original name of Motacilla alba. Today, up to eleven subspecies are recognised.

The species was recorded only seven times on this trip and only once on this day when a number of the tour party were able to photograph the bird at close range on the top of a grassy bank near to a stream in an inhabited area. It is a non-breeding male of the subspecies M.a.leucopsis known by its alternative name of Amur Wagtail and found in China, Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, Japan (Ryukyu Islands, Kyūshū), expanding into Japan (Honshū), South-east Asia, India and Oceania

References: BirdLife; Wikipedia