White wagtail
Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758
The white wagtail (Motacilla alba), also called the pied wagtail, is a bird in the family Motacillidae within the order Passeriformes, grouped with the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass from 20.1 to 24.1 g and a wingspan of 26 cm.
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Quick facts about the white wagtail
The white wagtail is a migratory, terrestrial invertivore whose habitats include human-modified land, and its geographic range covers 39,490,000 km². It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 20.1 g – 24.1 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 26 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 12.3 years – 13.7 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.25src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.75src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the white wagtail?
Photos of the white wagtail
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the white wagtail live?
Not recorded
What is the white wagtail?
The white wagtail (Motacilla alba) 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 (M. a. yarrellii) predominates.
The white wagtail 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 human-made structures.
It is the national bird of Latvia and has featured on the stamps of several countries. It is listed as being 'of least concern' by IUCN.
From the Wikipedia article “White wagtail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_wagtail&oldid=1380045968), 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 white wagtail sound like?
Is the white wagtail endangered?
The white 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 white wagtail classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMotacillidae
- genusMotacilla
- SpeciesMotacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Matacilla acularis, Matacilla alba baicalensis, Matacilla alba personata, Motacilla alba var. orientalis, Motacilla hodgsoni, Motacilla lugubris alboides, Motacilla lugubris leucopsis, Motacilla maculosa, Motacilla melanoleuca, Motacilla nigrabla
Other names and names in other languages (158)
- Pied wagtailEnglish
- Pied wagtail and white wagtailEnglish
- Pied/White wagtailEnglish
- WHWAEnglish
- WitkwikkieAfrikaans
- ذعرة بيضاءArabic
- أبوفصادة ابيضArabic
- الذعرة البيضاءArabic
- Enganyapastors grisoAragonese
- বগা বালিমাহীAssamese
- MonxaAsturian
- llavanderaAsturian
- Ağ çaydaçapanAzerbaijani
- Аҡ сәпсекBashkir
- Белая пліскаBelarusian
- Белая сітаўкаBelarusian
- Белая плiска (або сiтаўка)Belarusian
- Бяла стърчиопашкаBulgarian
- সাদা খঞ্জনBangla
- Kannerez c'hrisBreton
- Kannerez c'hris ar vengleuzBreton
- TitinaCatalan
- cuereta blancaCatalan
- Ḱayn H̗úrćáldig - Кӏайн ХӏуьрцӏалдигChechen
- Ош вӹтлӓнгӹMari
- Шурӑ пӑрчӑканChuvash
- Шурă пăрчăканChuvash
- CodizennulaCorsican
- konipas bílýCzech
- Sëwô plëszkaKashubian
- siglen wenWelsh
- Siglen FraithWelsh
- hvid vipstjertDanish
- BachstelzeGerman
- ހުދު ފެންފޯއްދޫނިDivehi
- Šera spliskaLower Sorbian
- ΑσπροσουσουράδαGreek
- ΛευκοσουσουράδαGreek
- blanka motaciloEsperanto
- Lavandera blancaSpanish
- linavästrikEstonian
- Buztanikara zuriBasque
- ChiriviaExtremaduran
- دمجنبانک سفیدPersian
- دم جنبانک ابلقPersian
- västäräkkiFinnish
- Erla kongsdóttirFaroese
- hochequeue grisFrench
- bergeronnette griseFrench
- Hochequeue griseFrench
- Lavandière griseFrench
- WipstörtNorthern Frisian
- BoumantsjeWestern Frisian
- Glasóg sráideIrish
- Glasóg bhánIrish
- Ballacua alvaScottish Gaelic
- Breac an t-sìlScottish Gaelic
- breac-an-t-sìlScottish Gaelic
- bric an t-sìlScottish Gaelic
- glaisean-seilichScottish Gaelic
- glaiseanan-seilichScottish Gaelic
- glasóg shráideScottish Gaelic
- Lavandeira brancaGalician
- Skibbag vaneManx
- Lhondhoo ny HawinManx
- נחליאלי לבןHebrew
- धोबनHindi
- bijela pastiricaCroatian
- Šěra pliškaUpper Sorbian
- barázdabillegetőHungarian
- Սպիտակ խաղտտնիկArmenian
- Kicuit putihIndonesian
- Kicuit Dwi-WarnaIndonesian
- MaríuerlaIcelandic
- Ballerina biancaItalian
- ハクセキレイJapanese
- タイリクハクセキレイJapanese
- თეთრი ბოლოქანქალაGeorgian
- eqqoqqortooqKalaallisut
- МывэкӀэпысKabardian
- Ах ызығасkjh
- Ақ шақшақайKazakh
- 알락할미새Korean
- TûtirwaskKurdish
- Stenor gwynCornish
- PanewippchenLuxembourgish
- baltoji kielėLithuanian
- baltā cielavaLatvian
- чывызикMari
- вырляҥгеMari
- чывызыкMari
- бела тресиопашкаMacedonian
- വെള്ള വാലുകുലുക്കിMalayalam
- Zakak Abjad <!--Maltese
- Хөх цэгцгийMongolian
- परीटMarathi
- Burung Pipit PelandukMalay
- မြီးညှောင့်ငှက်ကျား -->Burmese
- УськирейErzya
- linerleNorwegian Bokmål
- WippsteertLow German
- LandmännkenLow German
- सेतो टिकटिकेNepali
- witte kwikstaartDutch
- Craûlant-couenrm
- ਚਿੱਟਾ ਮਮੋਲਾPunjabi
- HoechqhuPicard
- pliszka siwaPolish
- Balarin-a biancaPiedmontese
- شودپۍPashto
- RubéolaPortuguese
- alvéola-brancaPortuguese
- BlandiscaPortuguese
- codobatură albăRomanian
- ледоломкаRussian
- белая трясогузкаRussian
- Сылгы чыычааҕаYakut
- Willie wagtailScots
- BeštorNorthern Sami
- liidnellášNorthern Sami
- trasochvost bielySlovak
- bela pastiricaSlovenian
- cingraAlbanian
- bishtatundaAlbanian
- Bishtatundësi i bardhëAlbanian
- bishtdylberja e bardhëAlbanian
- bishtgjata e bardhëAlbanian
- bishtlëkundësi i bardhëAlbanian
- bishtundësi i bardhëAlbanian
- çiriçingaAlbanian
- çobankaAlbanian
- delmerjaAlbanian
- dylmerja e bardhëAlbanian
- trincaAlbanian
- trinka e bardhëAlbanian
- tundbishtjaAlbanian
- zogdhenëshAlbanian
- zogu i dhenëveAlbanian
- Bela pliskaSerbian
- Бела плискаSerbian
- Bela pastirica - Бела плискаSerbian
- DobbeschiterSaterland Frisian
- sädesärlaSwedish
- Tikisa mweupeSwahili
- மஞ்சள் வாலாட்டிTamil
- นกอุ้มบาตรThai
- GeçiguşTurkmen
- ak kuyruk sallayanTurkish
- СайдаякTuvinian
- Тӧдьы йӧгылтӥсьUdmurt
- Плиска білаUkrainian
- VagolindVeps
- Chìa vôi trắngVietnamese
- Witte kwiksteirtWest Flemish
- TchirouWalloon
- Blauw lentertjeZeelandic
- 白鶺鴒Chinese
- 白鹡鸰Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the white wagtail
Other species in the same genus Motacilla.
Western yellow wagtail
Motacilla flava
Citrine wagtail
Motacilla citreola
Grey wagtail
Motacilla cinerea
Large pied wagtail
Motacilla maderaspatensis
African wagtail
Motacilla aguimp
Japanese wagtail
Motacilla grandis
CompareWhite wagtail vs Western yellow wagtailWhite wagtail vs Citrine wagtailWhite wagtail vs Grey wagtailWhite wagtail vs Large pied 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 white wagtail?
The white wagtail is a bird in the family Motacillidae, part of the songbirds and other perching birds (order Passeriformes).
How heavy is a white wagtail?
An adult white wagtail weighs from 20.1 to 24.1 g, with a representative value of 23.93 g. Its wingspan is 26 cm.
What does the white wagtail eat?
The white wagtail is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
Is the white wagtail endangered?
No. The white wagtail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a white wagtail live?
The white wagtail has a lifespan of 12.25 years, and the highest value reported by our sources is 13.67 years.
How many eggs does the white wagtail lay?
The white wagtail lays 5.25 eggs per clutch and has 1.75 clutches per year. The eggs are incubated for 13 days.
Is the white wagtail migratory?
Yes, the white wagtail is migratory. It forages on the ground and its habitats include human-modified land.
Who named the white wagtail?
The white wagtail was named Motacilla alba by Linnaeus, 1758.
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). White wagtail (Motacilla alba). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-wagtail
“White wagtail (Motacilla alba).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-wagtail.
@misc{white_wagtail_2026,
title = {White wagtail (Motacilla alba)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-wagtail},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}