Encyclopedia > Willie Wagtail
Willie Wagtail
| Willie Wagtail | ||||||||||||||
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| Rhipidura leucophrys |
The Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) is one of the best known and best loved birds of Australia. Around 20 cm long or a fraction bigger, the Willie Wagtail is a frequent sight in almost all habitats except thick forest. Its range includes the entire mainland of Australia and northern Tasmania, and extends to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismark Archipelago[?], and eastern Indonesia.
Starkly coloured in all-black with white underparts, the Willie Wagtail perches on fences, low-hanging branches, posts, anything available, and hunts for small creatures on the ground or in the air.
Wagtails are never still for more than a few moments during daylight hours; even when perching they flick their long, black tails from side to side constantly, twisting about to better watch for prey.
This species is unrelated to the Eurasian wagtails in the family Motacillidae.
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