Tag Archives: Montacilla alba

Female putting on a show

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Maríuerla – Pied Wagtail – Montacilla alba

The Pied Wagtail is back, occupying its usual space in the garden, wagging its tail all over the place and enjoying wholemeal crackers, – its favourite.  A male bird was with her early on but now he is nowhere to be seen.  We have noticed that when her kind fly over she puts on a show. Trying to lure potential males to her she bends low sticking her tail straight up in the air. As far as we know she has not been successful.

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She has however been building a nest and in the last few days we have not seen her as often as before. So maybe she has already laid her eggs. We will be on the lookout for Wagtail chicks in the next few weeks.

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This one is early

The first White Wagtail this spring arrived in the garden today. She went straight to the spruce tree where Wagtails have made their nest in recent years.  It seemed to know its way around the place.

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Maríuerla – Pied Wagtail – Montacilla alba

The White Wagtail goes all the way to West Africa for winter and most arrive back in Iceland  in May. This one is unusually early. The Icelandic breeding population counts around 50,000 pairs.