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Grey Wagtail
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae Genus: Motacilla Species: M. cinerea
Binomial name
Motacilla cinerea Tunstall, 1771

Breeding Male (at 6500 ft.) in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India

Breeding female (at 6500 ft.) in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India

In breeding plummage (at 6500 ft.) in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India

The Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. Its relationships are not well resolved; while it belongs to the non-African clade of wagtails, these are confusing in their external morphology, and mtDNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence data is not able to robustly resolve their relationships. While the present species is probably most closely related to Citrine Wagtails and some Blue-headed Wagtails, the exact nature of this relationship is at present undeterminable (Voelker, 2002).

This species breeds in much of temperate Europe and Asia and parts of north Africa. It is resident in the milder parts of its range, such as western Europe, but northern and eastern populations migrates to Africa, South Asia and Papua New Guinea.

This is an insectivorous bird of fast flowing streams, although in winter it will move to slower flowing lowland waters.

It nests in crevices in cliffs and rocks, laying 3-6 speckled eggs.

This is a slender bird, 17-20cm in length, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. It is the longest tailed of the European wagtails.

The breeding adult male is basically grey above and yellow below, with a black throat. Other plumages lack the black throat, and the yellow may be diluted by white except in the undertail area.

The call is a sharper version of that of White Wagtail.

In breeding plummage in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India	Breeding Male in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India	at New Alipore, Kolkata, India	at New Alipore, Kolkata, India
Grey Wagtail in winter grounds at New Alipore, Kolkata, India	Adult, Spring, England	Juvenile, Spring, England

• BirdLife International (2004). Motacilla cinerea. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

• 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Grey Wagtail

• Internet Bird Collection: Grey Wagtail videos. Retrieved 2006-NOV-22.
• Madeira Birds: Grey Wagtail

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