Grey Wagtail

Latin Name: 
Motacilla cinerea
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.