Overview

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.

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.

Listen to Call

White Wagtail Voice

Voice Text

"chuchun-chuchun"

• 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.

• Northern Mockingbird
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Gray Wagtail
• Northern Shrike
• Snow Bunting
• McKay's Bunting
• Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)

ORDER

The PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez) is large taxonomic order made up of one hundred eighteen families of birds, including the larks, woodswallows, and tanagers.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

There are sixty-eight species of wagtails and pipits grouped into six genera in the Motacillidae (pronounced moh-tuh-SILL-uh-dee) family.

NORTH AMERICA

Eleven species of the Motacillidae in two genera have been recorded in North America. Included among these eleven species are the Yellow Wagtail, American Pipit, and Sprague’s Pipit.

KNOWN FOR

Wagtails such as the White Wagtail are known for their habit of constantly wagging their long tails up and down.

PHYSICAL

The wagtails and pipits are small birds with fairly long, strong legs adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle. Members of this family are also for the most part slim birds with long tails (although tails of some pipit species are fairly short), fairly long, pointed wings, and longish, thin bills.

COLORATION

The pipits have brown and buff, streaked plumages with white in the outer tail feathers, while the wagtails are more colorful with yellow bellies and gray heads, or striking black and white plumage.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

In North America, members of this family breed in Alaska, northern Canada, and the northern Great Plains (the Sprague’s Pipit). They are all non-forest species, many with an affinity for wetlands. The most numerous species is the American Pipit. A bird of the far northern tundra and alpine meadows in the summer, it also occurs along the coast and other open habitats in much of Canada and the United States during the winter. Aside from the Sprague’s Pipit, the other pipit species occur as Asian vagrants to the west coast. The wagtails also show up as vagrants from Asia, or breed in Alaska and winter in Asia.

MIGRATION

All members of this family are long distance migrants to Asia, or the southern United States and Mexico.

HABITS

Wagtails and pipits are fairly social birds, some species flocking together outside of the breeding season. They forage by walking and picking up arthropods off the ground.

CONSERVATION

The Sprague’s Pipit has been listed as a vulnerable species. Like many grassland birds, this formerly common species has suffered from destruction of its short grass habitat.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Eastern Yellow Wagtail has the distinction of being named the bird most likely to carry the Avian Flu Virus (H5N1) from Asia to Alaska. This is because it winters in large concentrated numbers in southeast Asia where outbreaks of this virus most commonly occur. Its habit of frequenting of farmyards and its common association with domesticated animals further enhances its risk of contracting the disease.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Yury Lisyak