A bird that walks in search of insects along watersides and farmland in Japan. Birds commonly seen there have white faces with a dark line through the eye.
Japanese birds have a white face with a black line through the eye.
White wagtails search for food on open ground. As people approach, they move away by running or flying. Time spent feeding and the timing of escape are both part of their daily lives.
At Guizhou University in Guiyang, China, researchers approached ground-feeding birds at a consistent walking speed between November 2022 and January 2023. White wagtails were observed 102 times in the morning and 103 times in the evening. They allowed a closer approach before escaping in the morning. On days with a minimum temperature of 5°C or below, the mean escape distance was about 5.2 metres in the morning and 7.9 metres in the evening.
On warmer days, the morning–evening difference was not clear. The authors interpreted the pattern in terms of the need to obtain food after a cold night and the energy cost of escape. Remaining longer to feed offers one possible explanation.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The supplementary material to the 2021 European Red List of Birds reported different national breeding-population trends for white wagtails. During 2007–2018, declines were reported in Finland and Poland, while France was stable. National estimates ranged from robust surveys to extrapolation from limited data. Following changes by region and survey period, and investigating causes where declines occur, provides a basis for conservation decisions.