The African Pied Wagtail (and possibly the Mekong Wagtail) diverged prior to the massive radiation of the white-bellied black-throated and most yellow-bellied forms, all of which took place during the late Piacenzian (early Late Pliocene), c.
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The two remaining "monochrome" species, Mekong and African Pied Wagtail may be closely related, or a most striking example of convergent evolution.
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mtDNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence data (Voelker, 2002) is of limited use: the suspicion that there is a superspecies of probably 3 white-bellied, black-throated wagtails is confirmed.
White Wagtail | Mekong Wagtail | Yellow Wagtail (disambiguation) | Yellow Wagtail | Willie Wagtail | Wagtail | Adult male Sykes' Wagtail (''M. f. beema'') wintering at Hodal |
Mallards, Little Ringed Plovers, Wagtails are all common visitors to the islets during the breeding season.
However, mtDNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence data suggests that the White Wagtail is itself polyphyletic or paraphyletic (i.e. the species is not itself a single coherent grouping).