Citrine Wagtail
A species of Wagtails Scientific name : Motacilla citreola Genus : Wagtails
Citrine Wagtail, A species of Wagtails
Botanical name: Motacilla citreola
Genus: Wagtails
Content
Description General Info
Description
It is a slender, 15.5–17 cm long bird, with the long, constantly wagging tail characteristic of the genus Motacilla. The adult male in breeding plumage is basically grey or black above, with white on the remiges, and bright yellow below and on the entire head except for the black nape. In winter plumage, its yellow underparts may be diluted by white, and the head is brownish with a yellowish supercilium. Females look generally like washed-out versions of males in winter plumage.
Size
20 cm
Colors
Brown
Black
Yellow
Bronze
Gray
White
Life Expectancy
8 years
Nest Placement
Ground
Feeding Habits
Citrine Wagtail predominantly consumes invertebrates. It forages on the ground with characteristic wagging movements, often hunting near water. Unique adaptations include agile sifting through mud and shallow water, delineating it from other species.
Habitat
Citrine Wagtail typically inhabits open and wet landscapes such as marshes, lake edges, and wet meadows, including tundra regions and mountain meadows with an affinity for willow thickets and rough grassland areas. Broader regions encompass both lowlands and high altitudes, reaching up to 4600 meters. In the non-breeding season, citrine Wagtail frequents similar wet habitats, extending to coastal marshes, brackish lagoons, and irrigated agricultural landscapes like wet paddy fields and sewage farms, also being found around lake margins and riverine sandbars.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Sounds
Call
Recording location: China
Distribution Area
This species breeds in the central Palearctic in wet meadows and tundra. It migrates in winter to South Asia, often to highland areas. Its range is expanding westwards, and it is a rare but increasing vagrant to western Europe. Vagrants seem to extend the migration rather than straying en route; in Bhutan for example, though along one of the species' migration flyways, the citrine wagtail has been recorded as an extremely rare passer-by rather than staying even for a few days or weeks.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Wagtails Genus
Wagtails Species
Citrine Wagtail