| Wagtails | ||||||||||
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African Pied Wagtail | ||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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| † 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