Pied Wagtail
- The pied wagtail is almost, but not quite, an exclusively British bird. Some pied wagtails also nest on the adjoining coasts of France and Holland.
- On the Continent the white wagtail replaces the pied. It is a race of the same species, and has a pale grey rather than black back.
- White wagtails sometimes nest in southern England, occasionally hybridising with pied wagtails.
- Pied wagtails don’t nest in the Channel Islands, but white wagtails have recently started breeding there.
- Few groups of birds have as confusing names as the three British wagtails. In the winter a pied wagtail would be more aptly named a grey wagtail, while the latter species sports a splash of bright yellow that prompts many to think that it is really a yellow wagtail.
- Few birds have as many country names as the pied wagtail. They range from Polly washdish and dishwasher to the more familiar Penny wagtail, Willy wagtail and water wagtail.
- The origin of the washer names is a mystery, but it may be because women once washed clothes, as well as pot and pans, by a stream or village pump, the sort of place that pied wagtails also frequent.
- No one knows why wagtails wag their tails. The poet John Clare caught the bird’s gait well: Little trotty wagtail, he went in the rain. And tittering, tottering sideways he near got straight again.
- Though pied wagtails are resident in Britain they don’t like cold weather. In severe winters large numbers will join together and roost communally in towns.
- Buckingham Place supports a wagtail roost.
- The biggest wagtail roosts may hold as many as 4,000 individuals.
- The pied/white wagtails are the most widespread breeding birds in Europe, breeding everywhere from Iceland and arctic Norway south to Andalucia and Sicily.
- Such widespread breeding is an indication of this wagtail’s adaptability, for it is just as happy in high mountain valleys as city centres.
- These wagtails also nest right across Asia as far east as The Bering Sea. They occasionally wander to Alaska, whey they are a rarity sought-after by American birders.
- In Britain, many pairs of pied wagtails nest in close proximity to man, favouring holes in walls, gaps under roof tiles and similar spaces. They particularly like farmyards.
- Numbers of pied wagtails in Britain are on the increase.
- Each pair of wagtails will usually try and nest two or three times during the summer.
- Though the pied wagtails in southern Britain are largely sedentary, northern populations migrate considerable distances.
- At migration watch points in Britain there is a pronounced spring and autumn passage of wagtails.
- Though almost exclusively insectivorous, some wagtails show a liking for cake crumbs.
- Cock wagtails aren’t great singers: their song is best described as a plain and simple series of chirping notes.
