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White Wagtail

Motacilla lugensOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)

White Wagtail Portrait
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General

White Wagtail: Medium-sized wagtail, mostly white except for black upperparts and upper breast. All-white wing appears as a white wing patch when folded. Tail is black with white outer tail feathers that are conspicuous in flight and flicked continually when walking. Sexes are similar. Winter adult and juvenile have mainly gray upperparts and reduced black on breast. Accidental visitor in Alaska.

Range and Habitat

White Wagtail: Eurasian native; rare visitor on the outer Aleutians and other Alaskan islands; sometimes occurs further east. Preferred habitats include rocky seashores, grasslands, lakes, and rivers.

Voice Text

"chuchun-chuchun"

Interesting Facts

  • The White Wagtail was originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name of Motacilla alba.
  • The Latin genus name originally meant "little mover", but certain medieval writers though it meant "wag-tail", giving rise to a new Latin word, cilla, for "tail". The species name, alba, is Latin for "white".
  • Willy Wagtail was a colloquial name used on the Isle of Man, replacing the older name of ushag vreck.
  • A group of wagtails are collectively known as a "flock" of wagtails.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for White Wagtail
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Motacilla lugens
Length7.25 Inches
Wingspan10 Inches

White Wagtail

White Wagtail: Medium-sized wagtail, mostly white except for black upperparts and upper breast. All-white wing appears as a white wing patch when folded. The tail is black with white outer tail feathers that are conspicuous in flight and flicked continually when walking. Black bill, legs and feet.

● Song: "chuchun-chuchun"

● Foraging & Feeding: White Wagtail: Diet consists primarily of insects and snails; forages on the ground and in shallow water.

● Breeding & nesting: White Wagtail: Four to eight pale blue to gray eggs with gray or brown speckles are laid in a nest constructed of grass, forbs, leaves, roots, and twigs and lined with grass, hair, and feathers. Incubation ranges from 13 to 15 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: White Wagtail: Black-backed Wagtail shows mostly white wings in flight, with black tips to outer primaries, breeding adult has black back, and winter adult has black U-shaped patch encircling breast from side of head.

Flight Pattern

Several shallow quick wing strokes.
White Wagtail Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: White Wagtail: Eurasian native; rare visitor on the outer Aleutians and other Alaskan islands; sometimes occurs further east. Preferred habitats include rocky seashores, grasslands, lakes, and rivers.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationRare to casual
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.7 Ounces