Citrine Wagtail
Motacilla citreola
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
19 g
About This Species
A slender, long-tailed wagtail of wet meadows, marsh edges and irrigated farmland across its Palearctic breeding range and Asian wintering grounds, usually seen walking briskly along muddy shorelines or short grass while bobbing its tail. Breeding males show a distinctive yellow head and grey back, making them easy to pick out among other wagtails at water margins. Migration periods and the breeding season in wet lowland habitat offer the best viewing.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- A wary bird that forages in the open, so a slow approach and a stationary vantage point near water margins works better than direct pursuit.
- Wetland habitats it depends on are protected in parts of its range, and disturbance during the breeding season can cause nest abandonment, so keep well back from any bird showing agitated behaviour near likely nest sites.
- Local protections vary widely across its broad migratory range, so defer to site-specific guidance.
LCAvesPasseriformesMotacillidae
Seasonal Activity
159,289 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 19 g
Photo
(c) Pavel Shukov, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Pavel Shukov
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.