White wagtail

White Wagtail
M. alba alba
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Motacillidae
Genus:	Motacilla
Species:	M. alba
Binomial name
Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758

The White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws.

This species breeds in much of Europe and Asia and parts of north Africa. It is resident in the mildest parts of its range, but otherwise migrates to Africa. It has a toehold in Alaska as a scarce breeder.

This is an insectivorous bird of open country, often near habitation and water. It prefers bare areas for feeding, where it can see and pursue its prey. In urban areas it has adapted to foraging on paved areas such as car parks.

It nests in crevices in stone walls and similar natural and man-made structures.

This is a slender bird, 16.5-19 cm in length, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. The nominate subspecies Motacilla alba alba is basically grey above and white below, with a white face, black cap and black throat.

The resident British subspecies, the (British) Pied Wagtail (M. a. yarrellii) exchanges the grey color with black (or very dark grey in females), but is otherwise identical in its behaviour.

It is likely that the differentiation of White Wagtail into two subspecies in western Europe has arisen because of the partial isolation of the mainly resident British form, although M. a. yarrellii now also breeds in adjacent areas of the neighbouring European mainland.

In addition, there are a number of other subspecies, the validity of some are questionable, while others are sometimes proposed as constituting distinct species. They differ in the color of the wings, back, and head, or other features; e.g.

• Masked Wagtail (M. a. personata) having an all-black head with a white face mask, while the
• Indian Pied Wagtail (M. a. dukhunensis) has white ear-coverts at all seasons.
• Moroccan Wagtail (M. a. subpersonata) being somewhat similar to a grey-backed white-throated African Pied Wagtail.
• Black-backed Wagtail or Kamchatka/Japanese Pied Wagtail (M. a. lugens), similar to the M. a. yarrellii, but has a black eyestripe and white remiges; might have a claim to constitute a distinct species.

On the other hand, mtDNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence data (Voelker, 2002) suggests that these birds are polyphyletic or paraphyletic. While the White Wagtail appears to form a superspecies with the Japanese and White-browed Wagtails (and possibly the Mekong Wagtail, the phylogenetic position of which is mysterious), the internal systematics of the White Wagtail are still unresolved at present.

• 
  White Wagtail (M. a. alba)
• 
  Pied Wagtail (M. a. yarrellii)
• 
  Young bird
• 
  Hybrid between yarrelii and alba, or a yarrelli female

References

• Template:IUCN2006
• Voelker, Gary (2002): Systematics and historical biogeography of wagtails: Dispersal versus vicariance revisited. Condor 104(4): 725–739. [English with Spanish abstract] DOI: 10.1650/0010-5422(2002)104[0725:SAHBOW]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract

External links

• Internet Bird Collection: White Wagtail videos. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
• Norwegian Cyberbirding: Masked, Pied & White Wagtails photos. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
• Romani Rise: Pied Wagtail - the Gipsy Bird Pied Wagtails in Welsh Romani culture. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
• identification article with pictures (pdf)

Further reading

• Badyaev, A. V., D. D. Gibson, B. Kessel. 1996. White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) and Black-backed Wagtail (Motacilla lugens). In The Birds of North America, No. 236–237 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C.

Article

• Academy Of Natural Sciences Of P. (1996). White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) and Black-backed Wagtail (Motacilla lugens). Birds of North America. vol 0, no 236-237. p. 1-24.

• Akhtar SA & Prakash V. (1989). Streakeyed Pied Wagtail Motacilla-Alba-Ocularis New-Record Swinhoe from Harike Lake Punjab India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 86, no 2.

• Davies NB. (1976). FOOD, FLOCKING AND TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOR OF PIED WAGTAIL (MOTACILLA-ALBA YARRELLII GOULD) IN WINTER. Journal of Animal Ecology. vol 45, no 1. p. 235-252.

• Davies NB. (1981). Calling as an Ownership Convention on Pied Wagtail Motacilla-Alba Territories. Animal Behaviour. vol 29, no 2. p. 529-534.

• Davies NB & Houston AI. (1981). Owners and Satellites the Economics of Territory Defense in the Pied Wagtail Motacilla-Alba. Journal of Animal Ecology. vol 50, no 1. p. 157-180.

• Davies NB & Houston AI. (1983). Time Allocation between Territories and Flocks and Owner Satellite Conflict in Foraging Pied Wagtails Motacilla-Alba. Journal of Animal Ecology. vol 52, no 2. p. 621-634.

• Dougall TW. (1991). Winter Distribution and Associated Movements of Northern Pied Wagtails Motacilla-Alba-Yarrellii as Shown by Ringing. Ringing & Migration. vol 12, no 1. p. 1-15.

• Dougall TW. (1992). Post-Fledging Dispersal of British Pied Wagtails Motacilla-Alba-Yarrellii. Ringing & Migration. vol 13, no 1. p. 21-26.

• Dougall TW. (1996). Timing of autumn migration of Pied Wagtails Motacilla alba yarrellii, in northern Britain. Ringing & Migration. vol 17, no 2. p. 139-141.

• Fitzpatrick S. (1996). Male and female incubation in Pied Wagtails Motacilla alba: Shared costs or increased parental care?. Ornis Fennica. vol 73, no 2. p. 88-96.

• Fleming TH. (1981). Winter Roosting and Feeding Behavior of Pied Wagtails Motacilla-Alba near Oxford England Uk. Ibis. vol 123, no 4. p. 463-476.

• Higuchi H & Hirano T. (1989). Breeding Season Courtship Behavior and Territoriality of White and Japanese Wagtails Motacilla-Alba and Motacilla-Grandis. Ibis. vol 131, no 4. p. 578-588.

• Houston A. (1986). The Matching Law Applies to the Wagtails Motacilla-Alba-Yarrelli Foraging in the Wild. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. vol 45, no 1. p. 15-18.

• Houston AI, McCleery RH & Davies NB. (1985). Territory Size Prey Renewal and Feeding Rates Interpretation of Observations on the Pied Wagtail Motacilla-Alba by Simulation. Journal of Animal Ecology. vol 54, no 1. p. 227-240.

• Lopez G, Figuerola J, Varo N & Soriguer R. (2005). White Wagtails Motacilla alba showing extensive post-juvenile moult are more stressed. Ardea. vol 93, no 2. p. 237-244.

• Mason CF & Lyczynski F. (1980). Breeding Biology of the Pied Wagtail Motacilla-Alba and Yellow Wagtail Motacilla-Flava. Bird Study. vol 27, no 1. p. 1-10.

• Nakamura S, Hashimoto H & Sootome O. (1984). Breeding Ecology of Motacilla-Alba and Motacilla-Grandis and Their Interspecific Relationship. Journal of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. vol 16, no 2-3. p. 114-135.

• Patel ST, Pilo B & Shah RV. (1976). Oxidative Metabolism in the Liver and Kidney of Migratory Starling Sturnus-Roseus and Wagtail Motacilla-Alba. Pavo. vol 14, no 1-2. p. 41-49.

• Patel ST, Shah RV & Pilo B. (1977). Composition of Hepatic Lipids During Post Migratory and Pre Migratory Periods of the Migratory Starling Sturnus-Roseus and Wagtail Motacilla-Alba. Pavo. vol 15, no 1-2. p. 115-129.

• Pavlova A, Zink RM, Rohwer S, Koblik EA, Red'kin YA, Fadeev IV & Nesterov EV. (2005). Mitochondrial DNA and plumage evolution in the white wagtail Motacilla alba. Journal of Avian Biology. vol 36, no 4. p. 322-336.

• Persson C. (1977). The Early Stages of the Post Nuptial Molt in the White Wagtail Motacilla-Alba. Ornis Scandinavica. vol 8, no 1. p. 97-100.

• Pittie A, Kulkarni MS & Mathew R. (1998). Range extension of white wagtail Motacilla alba leucopsis at Pocharam Lake, Medak District, Andra Pradesh. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 95, no 2. p. 347-348.

• Randler C. (2006). Is tail wagging in white wagtails, Motacilla alba, an honest signal of vigilance?. Animal Behaviour. vol 71, p. 1089-1093.

• Rezanov AG. (1981). FEEDING-BEHAVIOR AND MODES OF FEEDING IN THE WHITE WAGTAIL MOTACILLA-ALBA (PASSERIFORMES, MOTACILLIDAE). Zoologichesky Zhurnal. vol 60, no 4. p. 548-556.

• Rudolfova J, Sitko J & Horak P. (2006). Unusual finding of Trichobilharzia sp in Motacilla alba in the Czech Republic. Journal of Helminthology. vol 80, no 1. p. 83-85.

• Ryzhanovskii VN. (2001). Evidence for the existence of a high-latitude white wagtail (Motacilla alba) population in the Yamal peninsula and the boundaries of its distribution. Russian Journal of Ecology. vol 32, no 2. p. 135-137.

• Ryzhanovskii VN. (2006). Evidence for the existence of a high-altitude white wagtail (Motacilla alba) population in the Yamal Peninsula and the boundaries of its distribution. Russian Journal of Ecology. vol 37, no 2. p. 120-125.

• Shah RV, Patel ST & Pilo B. (1976). Arginase and Pre Migratory Adaptive Changes in the Liver and Kidney of Migratory Starling Sturnus-Roseus and Wagtail Motacilla-Alba. Pavo. vol 14, no 1-2. p. 50-56.

• Shah RV, Patel ST & Pilo B. (1976). A Histochemical Study on Iso Enzymes of Alkaline Phosphatase in the Intestine of Migratory Wagtail Motacilla-Alba. Journal of Animal Morphology & Physiology. vol 23, no 1-2. p. 219-221.

• Shah RV, Patel ST & Pilo B. (1978). Glucose 6 Phosphate Dehydrogenase and Malic Enzyme Activities During Adaptive Hyper Lipogenesis in Migratory Starling Sturnus-Roseus and White Wagtail Motacilla-Alba. Canadian Journal of Zoology. vol 56, no 10. p. 2083-2087.

• Storr GM, Johnstone RE & Smith LA. (1982). A Specimen of the White Wagtail Motacilla-Alba from Geraldton Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist. vol 15, no 2. p. 19-20.

• Tewari NP. (1981). Effect of Calcium Chloride Administration on Serum Calcium Level in White Wagtail Motacilla-Alba. Journal of Advanced Zoology. vol 2, no 2. p. 94-96.