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Motacilla cinerea (Grey
wagtail)
Gryskwikkie [Afrikaans]; Grote gele kwikstaart [Dutch];
Bergeronnette des ruisseaux [French]; Gebirgstelze [German];
Alvéola-cinzenta [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Passeriformes
> Family: Motacillidae > Genus: Motacilla
Distribution and habitat
Breeds across western Europe through Turkey, Afghanistan
and Iran to central Asia; in the non-breeding season most of these populations
head south to Arabia, India, south-east Asia and north-east Africa, from Sudan
to northern Tanzania. It is a vagrant to many other parts of Africa, including
southern Africa, such as in Zimbabwe's eastern highlands and adjacent
Mozambique, parts of South Africa, west-central Namibia, the Caprivi Strip and
eastern Botswana. It generally prefers vegetation along streams and rivers (its
primary breeding habitat), but it may also occur in sewage works, forest tracks
and even urban areas.
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Distribution of Grey wagtail in southern Africa,
based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas
Project (©
Animal Demography unit, University of
Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range
from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common). |
References
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Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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