Langbar Loop #14: Willy or Penny?
The 14th cache in the series is the last of 5 hidden by the footpath running along the edge of the farmland at the top of the steep western bank of Holden Gill.
See Langbar Loop #1 for background info on the series including a map.
From the cache location this common, distinctive and easily recognised little bird was spotted - by its typical movements - down by the gill.
The white wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a small passerine bird in the Motacillidae family, which also includes pipits and longclaws. It breeds in much of Europe and the Asian Palearctic and parts of North Africa. It is resident in the mildest parts of its range, but otherwise migrates to Africa. In Ireland and Great Britain, of the possible 11 subspecies, the pied wagtail or water wagtail (M. a. yarrellii) predominates.
It is an insectivorous bird of open country, often near habitation and water. It prefers bare areas for feeding, where it can see and pursue its prey. In urban areas it has adapted to foraging on paved areas such as car parks. It nests in crevices in stone walls and similar natural and man-made structures. It lives for up to 12 years in the wild.
It is the national bird of Latvia and has featured on the stamps of several countries.
It is monogamous and will defend breeding territories during the season - mostly from April to August, with the season starting later further north. Both sexes build the nest, the male initiating and the female finishing the process.
The nest is a rough cup assembled from twigs, grass, leaves and other plant matter, lined with soft materials, including animal hair. It is set into a crevice or hole—traditionally in a bank next to a river or ditch—but the it has also adapted to nesting in walls, bridges and buildings.
3-8 eggs are laid (usually 4-6) which both parents incubate, although the female generally does so for longer and at night. These hatch after 12-16 days, then both parents feed the chicks until they fledge after 12-15 days and then for another week after fledging.
Though it is known to be a host species for the common cuckoo, the white wagtail typically deserts its nest if it has been parasitised - possibly because it is too small to push the intruding egg out of the nest, and too short-billed to destroy the egg by puncturing it.
Some other wagtail facts:
1. The pied wagtail is almost, but not quite, an exclusively British bird. Some pied wagtails also nest on the adjoining coasts of France and Holland. On the Continent the white wagtail replaces the pied. It is a race of the same species, and has a pale grey rather than black back. White wagtails sometimes nest in southern England, occasionally hybridising with pied wagtails.
2. Few groups of birds have as confusing names as the three British wagtails. In the winter a pied wagtail would be more aptly named a grey wagtail, while the latter species sports a splash of bright yellow that prompts many to think that it is really a yellow wagtail.
3. Few birds have as many country names as the pied wagtail. They range from Penny/Polly/Peggy
washdish/dishwasher, Moll washer, and (nanny)washtail to the more familiar Penny wagtail, Willy wagtail and water wagtail. The origin of the washer names may be because women once washed clothes, as well as pot and pans, by a stream or village pump, the sort of place that pied wagtails also frequent. Also the beating of laundry using a battledore (stick) resembles the tail wagging movement.
4. No one knows why wagtails wag their tails but it has been suggested that it may flush prey, or signal submissiveness to other wagtails. A study in 2004 has suggested instead that it is a signal of vigilance to potential predators. The poet John Clare caught the bird’s gait well: Little trotty wagtail, he went in the rain. And tittering, tottering sideways he near got straight again.
5. Though pied wagtails are resident in Britain they don’t like cold weather. In severe winters large numbers will join together and roost communally in towns.
Buckingham Place supports a wagtail roost and the largest wagtail roosts may hold as many as 4,000 individuals.
6. The pied/white wagtails are the most widespread breeding birds in Europe, breeding everywhere from Iceland and arctic Norway south to Andalucia and Sicily. Such widespread breeding is an indication of this wagtail’s adaptability, for it is just as happy in high mountain valleys as city centres. As a result, numbers of pied wagtails in Britain are on the increase.
7. In Britain, many pairs of pied wagtails nest in close proximity to man, favouring holes in walls, gaps under roof tiles and similar spaces. They particularly like farmyards. Each pair of wagtails will usually try and nest 2-3 times during the summer.
8. Though the pied wagtails in southern Britain are largely sedentary, northern populations migrate considerable distances. At migration watch points in Britain there is a pronounced spring and autumn passage of wagtails.
9. Though almost exclusively insectivorous, they also show a liking for cake crumbs.
10. Cock wagtails aren’t great singers and their song is best described as a plain and simple series of
chirping notes (see/listen here, and listen here for a N Yorks version).
See here here for more info on this pied waggler and see here for an excellent short video on the bird.