Wagtail: photo of a bird. White wagtail: the interesting life of birds White wagtail is a brave bird
White wagtail is a common insectivorous bird that is quite easily identified by its elegant appearance: long, constantly swaying tail, black crown and neck, and white tummy, forehead and cheeks. However, the coloring of this bird varies slightly depending on its habitat.
White wagtail breaks ice with its tail
In the old days, this bird was called “sinochka” or “pliska”. When the old men saw the wagtail fly in, they used to say: “The little bluebird has come to break the ice on the river.” They either jokingly or seriously believed that this bird, running on the ice, broke it with its swaying tail. But be that as it may, soon after the arrival of the harbinger of spring, ice drift begins.
Where does the white wagtail like to live?
The favorite habitats of this bird are the banks of lakes, rivers and streams. The Germans, for example, call it a “stream runner” for this reason. For the wagtail, the main thing is that there are no dense thickets on the banks of the selected reservoirs. Then you can move around the shallows without interference. And if there is also a human dwelling nearby, then for our bird this is simply a gift of fate. After all, a person who is not at all afraid of a wagtail will always have many secluded places where he can build a nest. By the way, in terms of the options for the location of its nests, the white wagtail, the photo of which is posted here, has no equal. Its structures can be found in a mailbox, in a woodpile, in a hollow tree, in an abandoned combine harvester, and even in
Wagtail nest
Due to the variety of places where the nest is built, the construction material, applied for it. Somewhere in a hole, on the ground, the nest is lined with thin blades of grass and leaves, and on the banks of rivers, in brickwork or a pipe, it is made of disheveled stems and soaked leaves, lined with wool fibers. But in any case, it is a shallow bowl, insulated with animal hair and horsehair. There the female will lay 6 small eggs covered with pale spots. By the way, it is believed that if a wagtail settles in your house, it will bring good luck.
How does the white wagtail feed?
To get food for itself, the wagtail runs on the ground most of the time. She moves with mincing steps, like an equilibrist on a tightrope, balancing with her tail and every now and then lunging at the midge. But sometimes it can follow an insect to great heights. This is probably why wagtails love smooth paths, dense compacted soil or wet sand so much.
White wagtail - a brave bird
The wagtail has a cheerful, restless character. The male defends the nesting site with desperate courage. In addition, when they see a predator, the birds gather in a flock and begin to chase it with loud screams, simultaneously warning everyone around about the danger. And often such behavior of wagtails forces the predator to give up hunting. And they show great attention and care to their chicks. Thus, it is known that a pair of wagtails that built a nest on a longboat did not abandon the hatched chicks and continued to feed them during the voyage.
The white wagtail is a small but very slender bird. This elegance is given to her by long thin legs and a long, straight-cut tail. Running deftly and quickly along the ground, she constantly shakes her tail. The wagtail's plumage is light, mostly white and gray tones, large on the throat and chest black spot, on the crown of the head there is a black cap, sharply different from the white forehead and cheeks on the sides of the head, the belly is grayish-white. The tail of this graceful bird is black, but the outer feathers are white; the wings above are brownish-gray with alternating wide transverse black-brown narrow white stripes.
The white wagtail nests in Europe, Asia, Africa and on the islands adjacent to these continents, as well as in North America. White wagtails winter in Africa, southern Asia and partly in Europe.
They feed on insects, in particular flies, spiders, caterpillars and mosquitoes. The nest takes approximately one to two weeks to build, and it looks like a shallow bowl, the walls of which are loosely and carelessly built from half-rotten and soaked stems and leaves of plants. The tray is made of animal wool and horsehair. In such a cozy nest, in April-May, chicks with an expressive velvet-black neck will appear. At the beginning of autumn, this bird will begin to fly away to distant warm lands.
Voice of a white wagtail:
Your browser does not support the audio element.Text used:
A. Gorkanova. "Migratory and wintering birds of Russia. Thematic dictionary in pictures"
Artist: Ekaterina Reznichenko
There is a bird in the wagtail family for which people have come up with many of their own names: pliska, bluebird, roly-poly, icebreaker.
Such in different words They call the white wagtail - a small, agile bird. Its habitat is North Africa and most of continent of Eurasia. From the cold polar deserts to China and India you can find this little bird. Lives permanently in the temperate zone, only occasionally wandering in search of food. But from colder places for the winter it flies to South Africa and to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Why was she called that? 
The bird is from the passerine order, and therefore looks a bit like a sparrow. The body of a white wagtail is only about 20 cm long. Its outfit is beautiful: it is all gray, but its belly is bright white, and there is a black spot on its chest, like an apron. The same spot on the small white head, reminiscent of a cap. The eyes are black, round, like small beads. In males, the coloring is more pronounced and distinct. The bird constantly twitches and shakes its long tail - hence its name. And she also constantly moves quickly on her springy, chiseled legs.
The chicks are hatched twice: in early spring and in summer, in June. The female lays 5, sometimes 6 white eggs with grayish spots in the nest. The female incubates the eggs for 2 weeks without leaving the nest. The male feeds her at this time. Both parents are already looking for food to feed the chicks.
At the same time, the nest is jealously guarded from both relatives and enemies.
Hunting wagtails predator birds: eagles, hawks, kites. Foxes, weasels and other predatory animals can destroy the nest.
Wagtails live up to 10 years. They get used to captivity well and can live up to 12 years.
Sometimes you can see small birds running along the road on thin long legs. Their interesting, frisky gait, in which they continuously twitch their long tail, especially attracts attention. It is for this reason that the bird got its name - white wagtail. But people may call it Vanka, Icebreaker, Sinochka or Pliska.
general description
This small bird belongs to the order Passeriformes, to the Wagtail family. Scientists divide white wagtails into 14 subspecies. They all differ in the shade of their plumage. The size of the bird's body including the tail is about 20 cm. The general color of the plumage is gray, but the belly and head are white. The breast and crown of the wagtail are black. The wings and tail have gray and white feathers. All birds, regardless of their subspecies, look interesting, but all males have a clearer, richer color.
The white wagtail (photo shown above) lives throughout most of Eurasia and North Africa. With the onset of cold weather, usually in November, the bird goes to the Mediterranean Sea or South Africa. But the inhabitants of temperate latitudes do not leave their places all year round, but only periodically wander in order to provide themselves with food.
White wagtail: description of lifestyle
As soon as spring begins, wagtails return to their native places. To settle, the bird most often chooses river banks and open areas with low vegetation. This is why the wagtail can be seen running along the road in gardens and park areas.
It is interesting that this representative of birds loves to lead a terrestrial life. Their legs are very mobile and are adapted for long walks on roads and lawns. If the city has enough green areas, the white wagtail easily lives close to people. In addition, in the summer it serves as a good helper for humans, destroying blood-sucking insects. They are very smart and quickly understand what the feeders are for and use them if they do not leave the city in winter.
They boldly defend their territory from all birds, which they regard as enemies. In order to successfully protect his possessions, a male may allow another young male to settle near him in order to scare off guests together. But as soon as the mating season begins, this “symbiosis” stops, and they become competitors. Males of this species can be called aggressive towards each other. But it is interesting that at the sight of a hawk, the warring parties unite and begin to fight back together. To migrate, these birds gather in flocks, and in late autumn, during the night, they all gather together in the reeds.
Bird feeding
The White Wagtail primarily feeds on insects, but may also feast on worms or spiders. Running along the ground, the bird looks out for its prey and pecks it. She can also catch insects while in flight. To do this, the wagtail hovers in the air, flapping its wings, and grabs its prey. This bird can also wait near bodies of water for an insect to fall into the water. Until the bug drowns or is eaten by a fish, the wagtail rushes to it like lightning and grabs it with its beak.
Mating season
As soon as the birds return from warm places, they divide into pairs. Every year, wagtails select new partners. Each male occupies a territory for himself, where he attracts his mate by singing. It looks like a twitter in different intonations. Very often they have to compete with other males. At the same time, they behave aggressively towards their opponent. When it comes to the courtship dance, the male lowers his head, puffs up his tail and wings, tracing circles around himself.
Having decided on a pair, the birds stay together and mate a few days later. Afterwards they select a place for the nest - in bushes, crevices, hollows, holes. Although both partners work on the construction, the female white wagtail constructs the main part of their house. These birds make a cup-shaped nest made of brushwood, moss, grass, and roots. The female covers the bottom with down or wool. But the shape of the nest may depend on the chosen location. In total, these birds can take from 6 to 12 days to build. But even after lining their nest, they may not populate it for several more days.
The appearance of chicks
Wagtails hatch their offspring twice a year - first in the spring, the second in mid-summer. Each clutch contains 5-6 eggs, which are white, gray or bluish in color, and may have various speckles of brown or gray. Incubation lasts approximately two weeks. Only the female spends the night in the nest, and during the day she and the male alternately warm the clutch (males do not incubate, but simply keep warm during the absence of the mother). Both parents take care of the chicks. They feed them and fiercely protect them from all enemies and from their fellows. At the same time, these little ones have plenty of enemies - animals of prey and birds. White wagtail chicks begin to fly 2-3 weeks after birth and immediately leave the nest. In total, the bird lives about 10 years.
Reliable facts
- The white wagtail protects its territory so actively that it can even attack its own reflection in glass and die from it.
- This bird loves to sit on the back of livestock to peck various insects from the animals.
- This bird has received many names because of its ability to swing its tail while walking.
- During the mating season, two males may pursue one female. At the same time, they continue their dance in flight.
- In Europe, the white wagtail is one of the most common and recognizable birds.
- This bird is almost impossible to see in a calm state.
- The wagtail can be tamed.
Spring is red not only with the sun and green foliage, but also with the singing of birds. The rook flies to us first, folk signs its arrival means that in a month the snow will melt, and larks and starlings will fly in with it. Behind them are wagtails, magpies, blackbirds, and cranes. Ducks and geese return to the rivers, cuckoos and nightingales return to the forests, swallows and swifts return to our home.
So that they arrive faster and delight us with cheerful chirping, let’s get down to business quickly - let’s make colored birds with our own hands!
We will need:
colored paper, cardboard, paper glue, glue gun, scissors, felt-tip pens, colored pencils, wax crayons (pastel), paints (watercolor, acrylic, gouache), remnants of colored cord or thick threads for knitting, eyes for toys, pompoms, etc. decor.
The simplest birds are swallow and stork, cut out using a stencil.
Swallow's breast white, the back is black, the stork is white. We will print it on a printer and cut out the stencils along the contour. Fold it in half along the dotted line, draw the stork an orange beak and plumage (with a black felt-tip pen). Such birds can soar in the air on paper wings.
And here cheerful bird family !
Let's glue together three sheets of colored A4 cardboard, maybe in different colors, it's even more interesting. We cut out paper strips-“wires” with a width equal to the length of the green line on the stencil (this is the cut line), and glue them by the edges onto the base cardboard. Let's print the stencils on A4 paper and cut out the swallows.
Color them with colored pencils, bend them along the dotted lines and cut them along the green line. Now you can place the birds on the “wires” - their length can be as long as you want so that all the birds fit.
These wonderful colorful birds paws made from clothespins
Print out the stencil and cut out the parts from colored paper. Draw feathers on the body and wings with a felt-tip pen and attach a clothespin to the bottom. We cut out the sole from cardboard and glue it to the bottom of the clothespin with hot glue.
One more colorful birds with long legs will be obtained from the stencil in the photo.
Their carcass is semicircular, has a red crest or comb, and legs on long cords. The manufacturing technology is the same: print a stencil, cut it out, paint it, glue it. We cut out 4 feet for one bird, since they will be double-layered, and glue laces between them. Instead of a paper comb, we will glue bright threads, colored feathers or a tuft of corrugated paper. You can glue a handle on top and carry the bird with you or hang it as a decoration on a window or door handle.
If we decorate our house with such birds, the warmth will come faster, and we will hear a spring song outside the window in the morning!
