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Photo: Jac · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesPasseriformesMotacillidae
Birds

🐦White wagtail

Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758

The white wagtail is a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which also includes pipits and longclaws. The species breeds in the Palearctic zone in most of Europe and Asia and parts of North Africa; it also has a toehold in western Alaska as a scarce breeder. It is resident in the mildest parts of its range, but otherwise migrates to Africa. In total, there are between 9 and 11 subspecies of M. alba; in Ireland and Great Britain, the black-backed subspecies known as the pied wagtail predominates.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
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Photos
3
Measurements
12
vs you
≈ 1/2,600th of your weight
Also called
Motacilla alba, Pied Wagtail and White Wagtail
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2019.

Population trendStable
Key measurements
Body mass
0.02 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
14 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the White wagtail

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.02 kg
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 0.02 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length
0.09 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.09 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.02 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.02 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
14 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
13 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 5
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Carnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Human Modified
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Terrestrial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for White wagtail yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderPasseriformes
  5. ›familyMotacillidae
  6. ›genusMotacilla
  7. ›speciesMotacilla alba
Full lineage
  1. superclassTetrapoda
  2. orderSauria
  3. classBirds · Aves
  4. orderPerching birds · Passeriformes
All 10 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. orderPerching birds · Passeriformes
More

More about the White wagtail

Closest relative on this site
🐦 Western yellow wagtail — last shared an ancestor ≈ 3.7 million years ago.
In other languages
sädesärla (sv), Motacilla alba (de), タイリクハクセキレイ (ja), Motacilla alba (es), Motacilla alba (nl), västäräkki (fi) … and 27 more languages
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