White wagtail

Motacilla alba

A slim black-and-white wagtail with a long tail, often walking along water edges and paved ground while chasing insects.

Key facts

White wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a carnivore animal classified as Bird · Passeriformes · Motacillidae.
Primary habitats are freshwater · grassland · urban · coast, with a range across Palearctic · Afrotropical · Nearctic.
Activity is diurnal, sociality is loose group, and conservation status is LC (Least Concern).
A slim black-and-white wagtail with a long tail, often walking along water edges and paved ground while chasing insects.
Uses rivers, lakeshores, farmland, coasts, towns, parking areas, and buildings where open ground meets water or bare surfaces.

Habitat range map

Native rangeOccasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Uses rivers, lakeshores, farmland, coasts, towns, parking areas, and buildings where open ground meets water or bare surfaces.

White face, dark head, gray back, black-and-white wings, and a long black tail are typical, with subspecies variation.

It walks quickly while wagging the tail, flies in a bounding path, and gives short calls.

Flies, beetles, mayflies, aquatic insects, and small invertebrates are chased on the ground and at water edges.

Nests are placed in crevices in walls, buildings, bridges, rocks, and other natural or human-made structures.

Urban-tolerant, it still depends on open foraging surfaces and abundant small prey around water.