White Wagtail
Motacilla alba
Den Hvide Vipstjert, af og til blot kaldt vipstjert, måler op til 16,5-19 centimeter og vejer omkring 24 gram. Spurvefuglen har en sort, hvid og koksgrå fjerdragt og en meget lang hale.
Slim black, white and grey bird with a very long, ceaselessly wagging tail. Black crown and throat against a white face, grey back and white outer tail feathers.
Can be confused with
- Grey Wagtail — Grey Wagtail has yellow underparts and a yellow rump and keeps to running water; White Wagtail has no yellow and walks open ground.
Plumage and variation
Male and female: The breeding male shows a blacker back where the female is greyer; otherwise alike.
Juvenile: Juvenile is dull grey-brown without the adults’ clean pied pattern.
Voice
The call is a sharp "chissick" or "tsik"; the song a weak, lively twitter, seldom heard.
Behaviour
Walks and runs on bare ground — pavements, farmyards and shorelines — making short dashes after insects. Wags the tail constantly. Tied to settlement and open country, often near water.
When and where
A very common breeder with over 100,000 pairs. Arrives in March–April and leaves for southern Europe and North Africa in September; a few overwinter.
Facts
Wingspan
26 cm
Conservation status
ikke truet
Relatives
Family
wagtails and pipits
Motacillidae
Order
passerines
Passeriformes
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