In the previous article, I wrote very little about a wagtail species; the yellow wagtail. Today, we are going to see another wagtail which is the white wagtail (ខ្ទប់ដីខ្មៅស). This small passerine bird has quite a good population in Cambodia, and not many people know it. At least the information about them is broader, I hope you like it.
Appearance
The white wagtail is a slender bird with a pale gray body that grows up to 21 centimeters. It has a combination of mantle-clean and silver-gray coloration that contrasts beautifully despite having just 3 main colors overall. A white wagtail has a gray back and white face with a black bib and crown. The wings are dark with a broad white stripe, and it has black beaks and legs with brown irises. You can differentiate the males and females by the color of their heads. The males have black markings on the back of their head, neck, belly, and throat, and females have darker markings.
Behavior
Just like the name suggests, this bird wags its tail a lot; almost all the time. White wagtails are monogamous and territorial, and they are extra terrestrial during the breeding season which is from April to August. Both males and females build the nest for the first brood, but the female will build the nest alone for the second brood. Simply because the males will be still provisioning the young from the first brood. After building the nest and laying the eggs, both parents take turns incubating the eggs that will hatch 12 days later.
Feeding & Habitats
Depending on where they come from, white wagtails feed on various types of food. The main diet consists of aquatic insects, terrestrial insects, and other small invertebrates that they can find. These birds favor beetles, crustaceans, dragonflies, flies, maggots, small fish, small snails, spiders, and worms.
The white wagtail species breeds and spreads throughout Eurasia, ranging in a wide range of habitats. What’s important to know is that some of them are residents in some areas such as the Mediterranean and Western Europe. For the birds who are there, they migrate within their range in those areas only. However, the Asiatic white wagtails move to India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia during migration.
Related Post: Yellow Wagtail Facts