Mountain wagtail
Motacilla clara Sharpe, 1908
The mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara) is a species in the family Motacillidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 15 g to 19.3 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the mountain wagtail
- Weight
- 15 g – 19.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the mountain wagtail live?
Not recorded
What is the mountain wagtail?
The mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara), also known as the long-tailed wagtail or grey-backed wagtail, is a species of wagtail of the family Motacillidae from sub-Saharan Africa.
From the Wikipedia article “Mountain wagtail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mountain_wagtail&oldid=1314949172), 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.
Is the mountain wagtail endangered?
The mountain 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 mountain wagtail classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMotacillidae
- genusMotacilla
- SpeciesMotacilla clara Sharpe, 1908
Synonyms Atolmodytes clara, Motacila clara, Motacilla longicauda
Other names and names in other languages (32)
- Grey-backed wagtailEnglish
- Long-tailed wagtailEnglish
- MOWAEnglish
- BergkwikkieAfrikaans
- Дългоопашата стърчиопашкаBulgarian
- cuereta claraCatalan
- konipas bystřinnýCzech
- siglen gynffonhirWelsh
- Afrikansk BjergvipstjertDanish
- LangschwanzstelzeGerman
- longvosta motaciloEsperanto
- Lavandera claraSpanish
- kosevästrikEstonian
- koskivästäräkkiFinnish
- Bergeronnette à longue queueFrench
- ogrličasta pastiricaCroatian
- hosszúfarkú billegetőHungarian
- Ballerina montanaItalian
- ハイイロハクセキレイJapanese
- ilgauodegė kielėLithuanian
- BergkwikstaartDutch
- bergerleNorwegian
- pliszka jasnaPolish
- alvéola-rabilongaPortuguese
- Длиннохвостая трясогузкаRussian
- trasochvost potočnýSlovak
- Afrička planinska pliskaSerbian
- bergärlaSwedish
- Gri KuyruksallayanTurkish
- плиска ефіопськаUkrainian
- 麗鶺鴒Chinese
- 非洲山鹡鸰Chinese
Relatives of the mountain wagtail
Other species in the same genus Motacilla.
White wagtail
Motacilla alba
Western yellow wagtail
Motacilla flava
Citrine wagtail
Motacilla citreola
Grey wagtail
Motacilla cinerea
White-browed wagtail
Motacilla maderaspatensis
African pied wagtail
Motacilla aguimp
CompareMountain wagtail vs White wagtailMountain wagtail vs Western yellow wagtailMountain wagtail vs Citrine wagtailMountain wagtail vs Grey wagtail
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the mountain wagtail?
An adult mountain wagtail weighs 15 g – 19.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the mountain wagtail endangered?
The mountain wagtail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the mountain wagtail?
The mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara) belongs to the family Motacillidae in the order Passeriformes.
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). Mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-wagtail
“Mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-wagtail.
@misc{mountain_wagtail_2026,
title = {Mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-wagtail},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}