---
title: "Grey Wagtail"
description: "Motacilla cinerea — Vogels. The grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/grey-wagtail
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Grey Wagtail

> Motacilla cinerea — Vogels. The grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length.

- Scientific name: *Motacilla cinerea*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Meren en rivieren)
- iNaturalist observations: 52463
- Wikidata: [Q201316](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q201316)
- iNaturalist taxon: [13688](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/13688)

## Names

- en: Grey Wagtail
- de: Gebirgsstelze
- es: Lavandera cascadeña
- fr: Bergeronnette des ruisseaux
- pl: Pliszka górska

## Countries with the most observations

GB (7324), ES (3680), FR (3616), RU (3549), DE (2803), IT (2466), PT (2236), JP (1854), TW (1820), IN (1807), CN (1368), AT (1051)

## Summary

The grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted to the throat and vent. Breeding males have a black throat. The species is widely distributed, with several populations breeding in Eurosiberia and migrating to tropical regions in Asia and Africa. The species is always associated with running water when breeding, although they may use man-made structures near streams for the nest. Outside the breeding season, they may also be seen around…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_wagtail

## Photo

![Grey Wagtail](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/grey-wagtail/medium.jpg)

Photo: Stuart · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148526359

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/grey-wagtail?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).