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Grey Wagtail
Latin Name:
Motacilla cinerea
Category:
Size:
17cm
Description:
Br Male: grey above; white supercilium; brownish wings, with yellowwhite band; yellow-green at base of tail (rump); blackish tail with white outer feathers; black throat and white malar stripe; yellow below. Wintering male and female: whitish throat (sometimes mottled black in breeding female); paler yellow below. Mostly solitary or in pairs; typical wagtail, feeding on ground, incessantly wagging tail; settles on house roofs and overhead wires.
Habitat:
rocky mountain streams in summer; open areas, forest clearings, watersides in winter.
Food:
insects, small molluscs.
Distribution:
breeds in Himalaya, from N Baluchistan east to Nepal, 1,200–4,300m; winters from foothills south throughout India.
Call:
Call Description:
sharp tzitsi… calls, uttered on the wing; pleasant song and display flight of breeding male.
IUCN:
At IITK: