Grey wagtail
Motacilla cinerea Tunstall, 1771
The grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea), also called the Gray wagtail, is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, belonging to the family Motacillidae in the order Passeriformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 17.15 g, up to 17.6 g, and a wingspan of 26 cm.
Quick facts about the grey wagtail
The grey wagtail is an invertivore of riverine habitat that forages on the ground and is partially migratory. It lays 4.98 eggs per clutch, with 2 clutches per year and an incubation period of 13 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 17.2 g – 17.6 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 18 cm – 19 cmsrc for Length
- Wingspan
- 26 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- riverinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.6 – 4.98src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the grey wagtail?
Photos of the grey wagtail
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the grey wagtail live?
Not recorded
What is the grey wagtail?
The grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted to the throat and vent. Breeding males have a black throat. The species is widely distributed, with several populations breeding in Eurosiberia and migrating to tropical regions in Asia and Africa. The species is always associated with running water when breeding, although they may use man-made structures near streams for the nest. Outside the breeding season, they may also be seen around lakes, coasts and other watery habitats. Like other wagtails, they frequently wag their tail and fly low with undulations and they have a sharp call that is often given in flight.
From the Wikipedia article “Grey wagtail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grey_wagtail&oldid=1323720993), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the grey wagtail sound like?
Is the grey wagtail endangered?
The grey wagtail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the grey wagtail classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMotacillidae
- genusMotacilla
- SpeciesMotacilla cinerea Tunstall, 1771
Synonyms Calobates cinerea, Motacila cinerea, Motacilla boarula, Motacilla boarula, Motacilla caspica, Motacilla caspica grisea, Motacilla cinerea caspica, Motacilla voarula, Parus caspicus
Other names and names in other languages (95)
- Gray wagtailEnglish
- GRWAEnglish
- GryskwikkieAfrikaans
- ذعرة رماديةArabic
- أبوفصادة رماديArabic
- Enganyapastors grisamarielloAragonese
- llavandera realAsturian
- Тау сәпсегеBashkir
- Горная пліскаBelarusian
- Горная сітаўкаBelarusian
- Планинска стърчиопашкаBulgarian
- Kannerez louetBreton
- Titina TorrenteraCatalan
- cuereta torrenteraCatalan
- Кырык вӹтлӓнгӹMari
- konipas horskýCzech
- siglen IwydWelsh
- Siglen LwydWelsh
- Siglennod LlwydWelsh
- BjergvipstjertDanish
- BergstelzeGerman
- GebirgsstelzeGerman
- ΣταχτοσουσουράδαGreek
- monta motaciloEsperanto
- MontarmotaciloEsperanto
- Lavandera cascadeñaSpanish
- jõgivästrikEstonian
- Buztanikara horiBasque
- دم جنبانک خاکستریPersian
- virtavästäräkkiFinnish
- vuorivästäräkkiFinnish
- áarerlaFaroese
- Hochequeue jauneFrench
- bergeronnette des ruisseauxFrench
- Bergeronnette jauneFrench
- Lavandière jauneFrench
- Glasóg liathIrish
- breacan an uilltScottish Gaelic
- breacain an uilltScottish Gaelic
- breacain bhaintighearnaScottish Gaelic
- breacan baintighearnaScottish Gaelic
- gdeacan baintighearnaScottish Gaelic
- Lavandeira realGalician
- Skibbag ghlassManx
- נחליאלי זנבתןHebrew
- gorska pastiricaCroatian
- hegyi billegetőHungarian
- Լեռնային խաղտտնիկArmenian
- Kicuit batuIndonesian
- StraumerlaIcelandic
- Ballerina giallaItalian
- キセキレイJapanese
- ბზეწვიაGeorgian
- КъуршмывэкӀэпысKabardian
- Тау шақшақайыKazakh
- 노랑할미새Korean
- WanterpanewippchenLuxembourgish
- kalninė kielėLithuanian
- pelēkā cielavaLatvian
- планинска тресиопашкаMacedonian
- വഴികുലുക്കിMalayalam
- करड्या डोक्याचा धोबीMarathi
- फुस्रो टिकटिकेNepali
- grote gele kwikstaartDutch
- vintererleNorwegian
- pliszka górskaPolish
- alvéola-cinzentaPortuguese
- Codobatură de munteRomanian
- Горная трясогузкаRussian
- VárrebeštorNorthern Sami
- ránesbeštorNorthern Sami
- අළු හැලපෙන්දාSinhala
- trasochvost horskýSlovak
- siva pastiricaSlovenian
- trinka e malitAlbanian
- Bishtatundësi i malitAlbanian
- bishtatundësja e malitAlbanian
- bishtdylberja e malitAlbanian
- bishtgjata e malitAlbanian
- bishtlëkundësi i malitAlbanian
- bishtundësi i malitAlbanian
- delmerja e malitAlbanian
- dylmerja e malitAlbanian
- Поточна плискаSerbian
- Potočna pliskaSerbian
- forsärlaSwedish
- சாம்பல்நிற வாலாட்டிக் குருவிTamil
- นกเด้าลมหลังเทาThai
- dağ kuyruksallayanıTurkish
- плиска гірськаUkrainian
- BaticoaVenetian
- Chìa vôi xámVietnamese
- Hosse-cou d' aiweWalloon
- 灰鶺鴒Chinese
- 灰鹡鸰Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the grey wagtail
Other species in the same genus Motacilla.
White wagtail
Motacilla alba
Western yellow wagtail
Motacilla flava
Citrine wagtail
Motacilla citreola
White-browed wagtail
Motacilla maderaspatensis
African pied wagtail
Motacilla aguimp
Japanese wagtail
Motacilla grandis
CompareGrey wagtail vs White wagtailGrey wagtail vs Western yellow wagtailGrey wagtail vs Citrine wagtailGrey wagtail vs White-browed wagtail
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the grey wagtail?
The grey wagtail is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup. It belongs to the family Motacillidae and the order Passeriformes.
How much does a grey wagtail weigh?
An adult Grey wagtail weighs 17.15 g, with values up to 17.6 g reported. Its wingspan is 26 cm.
What does the grey wagtail eat?
The grey wagtail is an invertivore, placing it at the carnivore trophic level.
What habitat does the grey wagtail live in?
The grey wagtail lives in riverine habitat and forages on the ground.
Is the grey wagtail endangered?
No. The grey wagtail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a grey wagtail live?
The grey wagtail has a lifespan of 8 years, and it reaches sexual maturity at 1 year.
How many eggs does the grey wagtail lay?
The grey wagtail lays 4.98 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year. The eggs are incubated for 13 days.
Who named the grey wagtail?
The grey wagtail was named Motacilla cinerea by Tunstall, 1771.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-wagtail
“Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-wagtail.
@misc{grey_wagtail_2026,
title = {Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-wagtail},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}