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24

White Wagtail

(Motacilla alba)
Alternate name(s): "Pied Wagtail", "Water Wagtail"
Size: 18-20 cm
Weight: 25-30 g
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See White Wagtail at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

More photos of White Wagtails were taken by us in Oman and in Europe.

Race "leucopsis"(?)

ADULT

MALE

NON-BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a non-breeding male White Wagtail (photo courtesy of L. George)
[Point Samson, WA, October 2013]

Lateral view of a non-breeding male White Wagtail (photo courtesy of L. George)
[Point Samson, WA, October 2013]

Lateral view of a non-breeding male White Wagtail, slightly different posture (photo courtesy of L. George)
[Point Samson, WA, October 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a non-breeding male White Wagtail (photo courtesy of L. George)
[Point Samson, WA, October 2013]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial Mobility: Vagrant Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Like all other wagtails known to us, White Wagtails are insect hunters. They take their prey from the ground or the surface of fresh water.

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

whitwag_dw_20190407.m4a alba (Poland) Contact call(?) © DW
whitwag_jp_20200117.m4a alba (Portugal) Contact calls(?) © JP
whitwag_dw_20190715.m4a alba (Poland) Contact calls(?) © DW
whitwag_dw_20190715_2.m4a alba (Poland) Contact calls(?) © DW
whitwag_dw_20170326.m4a alba (Poland) Contact calls(?); male © DW
whitwag_dw_20200726.m4a alba (Poland) Alarm calls (cat) © DW

More White Wagtail sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site?
If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.