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Gray Wagtail

Motacilla cinerea

Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Wagtails and Pipits
Gray Wagtail, photographed by Laitche

Photo: Laitche · Wikimedia · CC-BY-SA 4.0 (licence)

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Call and song

About the Gray Wagtail

Handsome long-tailed bird. Breeding male has a black throat, mostly yellow underparts. Breeding female often has some dark on the throat, paler yellow underparts. All plumages have gray head and back, with whitish eyebrow, bright yellow belly and vent. Often near flowing water with nearby rocks or surrogate rocky habitat, from mountain streams to weirs in suburban parklands. Walks quietly along shorelines or in nearby open areas, pumping its very long, white-sided tail up and down. Song is a repetitive series of high-pitched notes; calls include short, high “pseet” and buzzier flight calls.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 141 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

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