White Wagtail
Motacilla alba
Also known as: Pied Wagtail · WHWA
Aves
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- 2-12 yrs
- Size
- Small
- Diet
- Insectivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Flock
- Biome
- Freshwater wetland
- Range
- Europe and Asia
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Flight
- Status
- Common
About
A slender black-and-white songbird known for its constant tail-wagging as it walks, often seen strutting across parking lots and rooftops in search of insects. It's one of the most widespread birds in the world, breeding across nearly all of Europe and Asia.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
- 2.hatchlingA pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
- 3.juvenileA feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
- 4.adultFully grown with adult plumage and song.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
- Genus
- Motacilla
- Species
- Motacilla alba