White Wagtail

Motacilla alba

The white wagtail is a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which also includes pipits and longclaws. The species breeds in the Palearctic zone in most of Europe and Asia and parts of North Africa; it also has a toehold in western Alaska as a scarce breeder. It is resident in the mildest parts of its range, but otherwise migrates to Africa. In total, there are between 9 and 11 subspecies of M. alba; in Ireland and Great Britain, the black-backed subspecies known as the pied wagtail predominates. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 907,085 times across 98 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 14°C (typically 11 to 24°C, from 37 areas). That range is wide, so temperature alone does not explain when it turns up.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 40°N in January to 58°N in July, about 1,900 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.