Concerning Amur Wagtail.

Hi Simon and Henry,
I'm sure Simon is correct in saying Amur Wag.( M. leucopsis) is a subspecies of M. alba in terms of the BOU current treatment.
I got thoroughly tired of the constant juggling about; - lumping/splitting/lumping with "Clements" and have neither bought (nor followed) the 6th edition amendments, so am stuck in a "time warp" still using the 5th edition, in which M.leucopsis is treated differently, i.e. as a subspecies of Black-backed Wagtail (M. lugens).
There are various treatments, with some proposing to lump virtually all these under White Wagtail, whereas others (possibly the Dutch) proposing to split them all!

I basically am a fan of the good old concept of retaining stuff as subspecies (wherever possible) as the contentious groups are evolving over varying time scales according to the particular selection pressures impacting on them. Who are we at any given time to pontificate in every case as to what stage in the speciation process every such subspecies/species has reached?
As regards Amur Wagtail though, having seen it in China and counted it then as a Lugens subspecies following Clements, when I was lucky enough to see the Seaham bird, I own up; - I do count it as Lugens here as well; - after all it was a corker!
Cheers,
Mike P