WagtailsWhite WagtailMotacilla alba
- ORDER: Passeriformes
- FAMILY: Motacillidae
Basic Description
Bobbing its head and wagging its tail as it sashays across the ground, the White Wagtail is a familiar sight across its vast Eurasian breeding range. These slender, long-tailed songbirds come in a remarkable variety of black, gray, and white color themes. White Wagtails thrive in human settings, foraging for insects in parks and gardens and nesting in and around buildings. They also breed in deserts, high mountains, and on remote sea cliffs. Though they are mostly Eurasian breeders, White Wagtails also nest in small numbers in western Alaska and Greenland.
More ID InfoOther Names
- Lavandera Blanca (Spanish)
- Bergeronnette grise (French)
- Cool Facts
- White Wagtails nest in cavities and crevices, and they’ll use just about any nook or cranny they can find. They sometimes nest in unexpected places like roofs, buildings, bridges, train tracks, and unused bird nests; or even more bizarre places such as in old fuel drums, in an active Golden Eagle nest, or in an old walrus skull.
- Between an expansive breeding range that includes all of Europe and most of Asia, and a nonbreeding range that includes Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, White Wagtail occurs across nearly the entire Eurasian landmass.
- During the nonbreeding season, up to six of the nine different White Wagtail subspecies groups (see Regional Differences) can occur together in parts of India.