Species group · Birds

Wagtails

WAnimals has 3 species of wagtail, all in the family Motacillidae.

3 species

1 family

47 countries

267 parks

Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 3.

All 3 species of wagtails on WAnimals

Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Grey Wagtail

Motacilla cinerea

Western Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla flava

White Wagtail

Motacilla alba

3 Least Concern

No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.

Recorded in 47 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Always tied to running water; it bobs its tail constantly on the stones.
From Grey Wagtail
It is the wagtail most tied to running water: it prefers stretches of river with rapids and waterfalls, which is where its Spanish name comes from.
From Grey Wagtail
It goes higher than the yellow wagtail: it can live up to 2,000 m, while that species does not usually pass 800.
From Grey Wagtail
It follows livestock to catch the insects they put up as they graze.
From Western Yellow Wagtail
Its Spanish name comes from its habit of moving among cattle looking for the insects they flush; "lavandera", washerwoman, refers to its living beside water.
From Western Yellow Wagtail
Its scientific name conceals a medieval misunderstanding: motacilla is in fact a diminutive of motare, "to move", but it was read as though cilla meant "tail".
From Western Yellow Wagtail
It associates with livestock to take the larvae of the insects that lay their eggs in the dung.
From White Wagtail
It is one of the regular hosts of the common cuckoo in central Europe.
From White Wagtail