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Motacilla alba

Linnaeus, 1758

White Wagtail

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.796910
Element CodeABPBM01030
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyMotacillidae
GenusMotacilla
Other Common Names
Bergeronnette grise (FR) Lavandera Blanca (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 2005. Forty-sixth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 122(3):1026-1031.
Taxonomic Comments
Includes Motacilla lugens. According to the 46th supplement of the AOU (2005), "Motacilla lugens was separated as a distinct species by AOU (1982, 1983, 1998) and some Russian workers (Stepanyan 1978, Kistchinski 1980) on the basis of contact with supposedly only limited hybridization in areas of overlap in Ussuriland with M. a. leucopsis Nazarenko (1968) and in northern Kamchatka with M. a. ocularis (Kistchinski and Lobkov 1979). Most European authorities did not separate the forms as species, however. Alstrom and Mild (2003) suggested that the amount of hybridization had been underestimated, and they treated lugens as a subspecies of alba, a treatment also indicated by Voelker (2002) on the basis on genetic analysis."
Conservation Status
Review Date1997-01-05
Change Date1997-01-05
Range Extent Comments
BREEDS: in North America in western Alaska from Cape Lisburne south to St. Lawrence Island and Norton Sound, probably farther south; also in Old World. NORTHERN WINTER: Eurasia south to southern Africa, coasts of Indian Ocean, East Indies, and Phillipines. In migration occurs in eastern Atlantic islands, and on islands from Japan south to Phillipines (AOU 1983).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Open country from tundra and desert edge to margins of watercourses, also in towns, villages, and, in Old World, cultivated areas (Terres 1980). Nests in various habitats, usually with open areas of level grass, often near water, frequently associated with human activity. Nest placed in cavity or hole in wall, building, pipe, drain, old bird nest, under clod, among dune grasses.

Reproduction

Clutch size is 3-8 (usually 5-6). Incubation, mostly or entirely by female, lasts 12-14 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest at 13-16 days.
Terrestrial Habitats
Grassland/herbaceousDesertTundraSand/duneCropland/hedgerowSuburban/orchard
Palustrine Habitats
Riparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN3B
ProvinceRankNative
AlaskaS3BYes
Roadless Areas (2)
Alaska (2)
AreaForestAcres
GravinaTongass National Forest37,381
RevillaTongass National Forest29,298
References (10)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 2005. Forty-sixth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 122(3):1026-1031.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  6. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  7. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  8. Peyton, L. 1963. Nesting and occurrence of white wagtails in Alaska. Condor 65:232-235.
  9. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  10. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.