Pied wagtail

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A pied wagtail in an urban area looking for food
The pied wagtail, Motacilla alba, is in the family pipits and wagtails and has the status Green in UK conservation meaning it is under least concern and therefore not threatened as it is protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. They can be identified as as adult but there black, white and grey feathers and short, thin and black beak. They are quite small birds with a length of 18cm, a wingspan of 25-30cm and weighing just 17-25g. There population is doing well and there are around 470,000 breeding pairs in the UK alone. In juvenile form they can be identified and differentiated as they have slightly more grey tones in their feathers and the occasional yellow streak. They naturally live in farmland, grassland and also in urban and suburban settlements. At warm roost sites, such as in trees and bushes or seedbed, they flock together. Their food source is mainly insects but they also feed on seeds or, in winter months when food is scarce, rubbish from surrounding settlements. 

Between 1995 and 2010, pied wagtail numbers dropped by 11%



Pied wagtails are very versatile when it comes to nesting sites





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