So there I was, standing by the bank of the stream where I usually visit, watching the great tits play in the air, tumbling after each other. Smiling at the couple of blackbirds rustling in the leaves for nest materials, and just as I turned my head towards the stream again. Bam! Right on the bank of a stream, a new looking bird. I was confused, I had no idea what bird this was. Well, a wagtail for sure as it could wag it's tail for Great Britain, and I had seen a pied wagtail before in this area, but this was no pied wagtail! It had a sort of yellow tinge to it, and a dark streak on the side of it's body continuing down to it's wing.
Now for some, they may have been able to identify this bird immediately, but having never seen it in the flesh and only seen it in a bird book, I wasn't entirely sure. Quickly, I scrambled and got my phone out, zooming in to take as close of a picture as I could. It was of course blurry but I knew it was enough for me to confirm it's identity once I returned home.
Absolutely buzzing with excitement, I waited to see if it would return to the stream but it did not. So, I finished my walk absolutely intrigued and as soon as I got through the front door I opened by book to check.
Using my picture, I narrowed the search down to a yellow wagtail or a grey wagtail. I knew that this bird had a yellow tinge, but was unsure of if it was yellow
enough to be a yellow wagtail, as grey wagtails have yellow too. What a pickle I was in! I wasn't sure enough to confirm what species it was, so all I could do was wait to see this mysterious visitor the next day.
Sure enough, I went on my usual walk and was in anticipation of whether I would encounter my new friend again. As I approached the stream, Bam! There it was again! Wagging it's tail, dark streak down the side of it's body, near the stream. It hopped about, and then flew off again. I couldn't believe my luck that the bird was here again, and with this sighting, it was definitely good enough for me to identify! I returned home, and just to make sure, I found a video online of the species I thought it was and sure enough, yes, a grey wagtail!!
I was shocked because I had never seen a grey wagtail down near the stream before, and this was exciting as meant that we had another species of bird to follow!
So, I decided to do some research into my new found grey wagtail.
It turns out that grey wagtails are relatively rare birds with a population of just 38,000 breeding pairs in the UK. They are, subsequently, classified as Red Status due to this considerably low number. So we had a Red listed bird in our area! This made me feel so honoured to spot one as it had previously been on the Green and Amber list, showing that this species is in active decline, and I am still in awe as I didn't expect to see one in real life as I thought I roughly knew our regular visitors!
This is truly exciting stuff and
I'm hoping to see much more of the Grey Wagtail, but I very much doubt in my back garden.
Grey wagtails feed almost exclusively on aquatic-type insects and similar insects found around water (flies, beetles, molluscs etc), so my suet balls won't tickle their fancy but if my local park sustains a high volume of such insects, we may have a Grey Wagatil nest! Grey wagtails begin breeding in April, with a moss and hair lined nest close to a fast-flowing river, usually between hollows, or nooks and crannies among rocks. So I better keep a close eye out as their fledging period is 12 days and I would absolutely love to see some youngsters about.
But, I think the age old question really is.... why do the wagtails wag?
There are mannny theories about why the wagtail wags its tail. One theory is that the wagging tail helps to flush out insects, but wagtails wag their tails when
preening, so this can't be the primary function.
Like many animals in the natural world who use their tail feathers or body movements for mating purposes, it is thought that the tail wagging may have a social function with individuals signalling to potential mates about the quality of their condition. Yet again, to bring this theory crashing down, all ages and genders exhibit wagging behaviour, so this would not seem a likely function of tail wagging.
But another idea that has evidence is that tail wagging is a signal to potential predators to signify their recognition of the predator's presence, saying that. There are a number of studies supporting this hypothesis in other animals, as they reveal that tail movement frequency increases with the presence of predators. So, this is quite a plausible theory of why the wagtail wags, but in all honesty, it could be a combination of all the factors and I'm not sure we will ever know for sure!
I think its the unknown that intrigues me so much, and personally I love the wagging of the wagtail, it reminds me of a happy dance!
Have a wagtail dance today, and I hope you enjoyed my little exciting discovery!
Outdoorsy Anna