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Wagtail

Wagtails
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family†:Motacillidae
Genera
Dendronanthus
Motacilla
† see also: pipit, longclaw

The wagtails are a group of small passerine birds with long tails which they wag frequently.

"Motacilla", the root of the family and main generic name, means “moving tail”. They are in the same family as the pipits and longclaws.

They are slender, often colourful, ground-feeding insectivores of open country in the Old World. Wagtails are ground nesters, laying up to six speckled eggs.

There are eleven species, all but one in Motacilla.

Genus Dendronanthus

Genus Motacilla


The Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) of Australia is unrelated.



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