# White wagtail (*Motacilla alba*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-wagtail  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 20.1 g – 24.1 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 26 cm |
| Lifespan | 12.3 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 13.7 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | human_modified |
| Egg incubation | 13 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 5.25 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.75 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Motacillidae
- genus: Motacilla
- species: *Motacilla 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*

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: White wagtail (Motacilla alba). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-wagtail