Grey wagtail

Appearance

This slim wagtail has a narrow white supercilium and a broken eye ring. The upperparts are grey and the yellow vent contrasting with whitish underparts makes it distinctive. The breeding male has a black throat that is edged by whitish moustachial stripes. They forage singly or in pairs on meadows or on shallow water marshes. They also use rocks in water and will often perch on trees. They have a clear sharp call note and the song consists of trills.

Distribution

The bird is widely distributed across the Palearctic region with several well marked populations. The nominate form is from western Europe including the British Isles, Scandinavia and Mediterranean region. Race "melanope", which is not well separated from the nominate subspecies, is described as the population breeding in eastern Europe and central Asia mainly along the mountain chains of the Urals, Tien Shan and along the Himalayas. They winter in Africa and Asia. Race "robusta" breeds along the northeastern parts of Asia in Siberia extending to Korea and Japan. These winter in Southeast Asia. Island forms include "patriciae" of the Azores, "schmitzi" of Madeira and "canariensis" of the Canary Islands.

They sometimes occur on the islands to the West of Alaska but have been known to occur further south in California as a vagrant.

Behavior

The breeding season is April to July and the nest is placed near fast running streams or rivers on an embankment between stones and roots. The male in display, makes short flights up into the air and descends slowly with fluttering flight accompanied by a rapid series of chipping high notes. In Europe the nests are often made in holes in manmade structures. The clutch consists of 3–6 speckled eggs and multiple broods may be raised with declining numbers in the clutch in subsequent broods. The usual clutch size is five in Ireland and the breeding success is about 80% with predation of eggs or chicks being the main cause of breeding failure. The Canary Islands population typically have smaller clutches and the breeding season is not as short and well marked as in populations at higher latitudes. The incubation period is about two weeks with chicks fledging within a fortnight. They live for a maximum of 8 years in the wild.

In some parts of the its range the white-throated dipper nests in the same habitats as the grey wagtail and there are some records of interspecific feeding of dipper chicks by nesting wagtails.

These birds feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrates including adult flies, mayflies, beetles, crustacea and molluscs. They often forage along roadsides in winter, flushing with a sharp "chi-cheep" call and flying up further along the road but after some distance turning back to return to the original location.

In winter, they roost in small groups. Wintering birds have been known to return to the same sites, sometimes a small urban garden, each year.

Adults often have parasitic ticks, "Ixodes ricinus", which can harbour "Borrelia" and thus can potentially disperse Lyme disease over a wide region. Coccidia such as "Isospora" sp. are known in this species. The common cuckoo is sometimes a brood parasite of this species. and Kestrels may sometimes prey on them.

Habitat

The bird is widely distributed across the Palearctic region with several well marked populations. The nominate form is from western Europe including the British Isles, Scandinavia and Mediterranean region. Race "melanope", which is not well separated from the nominate subspecies, is described as the population breeding in eastern Europe and central Asia mainly along the mountain chains of the Urals, Tien Shan and along the Himalayas. They winter in Africa and Asia. Race "robusta" breeds along the northeastern parts of Asia in Siberia extending to Korea and Japan. These winter in Southeast Asia. Island forms include "patriciae" of the Azores, "schmitzi" of Madeira and "canariensis" of the Canary Islands.

They sometimes occur on the islands to the West of Alaska but have been known to occur further south in California as a vagrant.
The breeding season is April to July and the nest is placed near fast running streams or rivers on an embankment between stones and roots. The male in display, makes short flights up into the air and descends slowly with fluttering flight accompanied by a rapid series of chipping high notes. In Europe the nests are often made in holes in manmade structures. The clutch consists of 3–6 speckled eggs and multiple broods may be raised with declining numbers in the clutch in subsequent broods. The usual clutch size is five in Ireland and the breeding success is about 80% with predation of eggs or chicks being the main cause of breeding failure. The Canary Islands population typically have smaller clutches and the breeding season is not as short and well marked as in populations at higher latitudes. The incubation period is about two weeks with chicks fledging within a fortnight. They live for a maximum of 8 years in the wild.

In some parts of the its range the white-throated dipper nests in the same habitats as the grey wagtail and there are some records of interspecific feeding of dipper chicks by nesting wagtails.

These birds feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrates including adult flies, mayflies, beetles, crustacea and molluscs. They often forage along roadsides in winter, flushing with a sharp "chi-cheep" call and flying up further along the road but after some distance turning back to return to the original location.

In winter, they roost in small groups. Wintering birds have been known to return to the same sites, sometimes a small urban garden, each year.

Adults often have parasitic ticks, "Ixodes ricinus", which can harbour "Borrelia" and thus can potentially disperse Lyme disease over a wide region. Coccidia such as "Isospora" sp. are known in this species. The common cuckoo is sometimes a brood parasite of this species. and Kestrels may sometimes prey on them.