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Grey Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Motacilla cinerea

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The Grey Wagtail is a slim, very long-tailed wagtail of fast-flowing streams, grey above with a bright yellow vent and, in breeding males, a black throat. Widespread across the Palearctic, it breeds by rushing water, and many northern and eastern populations winter in Africa and southern Asia. It constantly wags its tail and flies in low, bouncing arcs with a sharp call.

Did you know?

  • Grey Wagtails have been recorded feeding the chicks of White-throated Dippers.
  • It readily nests in bridges and walls near streams.

Voice

Song
Call
Flight call

About the species

Identification

Grey above, with a white wing bar on the black wings; the underparts are yellow, brightest under the tail. The very long tail and yellow vent separate it from similar wagtails; the male has a black throat in the breeding season. Compared with Western Yellow Wagtail it is greyer above and much longer-tailed.

Family

Motacillidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

grey, yellow, black, white

About the habitat

Fast-flowing rivers and streams with stony banks, waterfalls, weirs and mill races, often under bridges; outside the breeding season also lake shores, coasts and town watercourses.

Diet

Mainly aquatic invertebrates – flies, midges, mayflies, caddisflies and beetles – as well as small crustaceans and molluscs, picked from stones or caught in short flights over the water.

Behaviour

Forages alone or in pairs along water edges, running and pausing on stones and perching on rocks and branches, almost always wagging its tail. It has a sharp call and a trilling song, and males perform short song flights in spring. It nests close to water in crevices, walls or holes under bridges. In winter birds often return to the same sites year after year.

Sources

Photo: Herwig Winter, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gebirgsstelze im Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald.jpg

Sound: Lionel TRIBOULIN, XC1007991, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1007991

Sound: Pascal Christe, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motacilla_cinerea_-_Grey_Wagtail_XC596811.mp3

Sound: Sudipto Roy, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motacilla_cinerea_-_Grey_Wagtail_XC128136.ogg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_wagtail

See also