Grey Wagtail

Motacilla cinerea

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Presence in the Strait: Resident
Abundance: common
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Lavandera cascadeña

Photograph: Juan Emilio, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length: 18–19 cm
Weight: 18 g

Presence in the Strait

Common resident along rivers.

Identification

Similar to a Yellow Wagtail but with grey upperparts, paler legs, longer tail and more solitary behaviour. Males in summer plumage display a black bib, which is buff-white in winter. Females are similar to males in winter, but with a paler belly. Juvenile have white underparts with yellow vent and undertail coverts.

Movements

From the end of August to the beginning of May. Postnuptial migration is more evident, with peaks in 1st hf. October; prenuptial migration in 2nd hf. February and 1st hf. March.

Ring recoveries

Germany (2), France (2), Austria (1) and Spain (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

24 %

Peak in October. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 25 February 1966
Latest record: 19 October 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

6 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Germany2
France2
Austria1
Spain1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

White Wagtail18–18 cm · Resident · overlapping size
Citrine Wagtail15.5–17 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
GBIF taxon key: 2490310

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Juan Emilio, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Grey Wagtail

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery