Editing Grey wagtail (section)

==Behaviour and ecology==
[[Image:Motacilla cinerea 1 Luc Viatour.jpg|thumb|left|Nominate race (Belgium)]]
The breeding season is April to July and the nest is placed near fast running streams or rivers on an embankment between stones and roots.<ref name="pcr">{{cite book|author1=Rasmussen PC  |author2=Anderton, JC |year=2005|title=Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|page=317|publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions}}</ref> The male in display, makes short flights up into the air and descends slowly with fluttering flight accompanied by a rapid series of chipping high notes.<ref name="hbk" /> In Europe the nests are often made in holes in manmade structures. The clutch consists of 3–6 speckled eggs and multiple broods may be raised with declining numbers in the clutch in subsequent broods.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Klemp S.|year=2000|title=Effects of parental effort on second brood, moult and survival in the Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea|journal=Ardea|volume=88|issue=1|pages=91–98}}</ref> The usual clutch size is five in Ireland and the breeding success is about 80% with predation of eggs or chicks being the main cause of breeding failure.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Breeding biology of the Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea in southwest Ireland|author1=Smiddy, P.  |author2=O'Halloran, J. |doi=10.1080/00063659809461104 |journal= Bird Study|volume = 45|issue=3|year=1998|pages=331–336}}</ref> The Canary Islands population typically have smaller clutches and the breeding season is not as short and well marked as in populations at higher latitudes.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Rodríguez B.|author2=Rodríguez A.|year=2007|title=Breeding biology of Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea canariensis on Tenerife, Canary Islands|journal=Acta Ornithol.|volume=42|pages=195–199|url=http://www.ebd.csic.es/Airam/pdf/Rodriguez_%26_Rodriguez_2007_Acta_Ornithol.pdf|doi=10.3161/068.042.0203|issue=2|doi-access=free|access-date=2009-10-28|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030532/http://www.ebd.csic.es/Airam/pdf/Rodriguez_%26_Rodriguez_2007_Acta_Ornithol.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The incubation period is about two weeks with chicks fledging within a fortnight. They live for a maximum of 8 years in the wild.<ref>{{cite web|author=Robinson, R.A. |year=2005|title=BirdFacts: profiles of birds occurring in Britain & Ireland |access-date=28 October 2009|publisher=BTO Research|url=http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob10190.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title= Migration and Aspects of Population Dynamics in the Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea |author= Jørgensen OH|journal=Ornis Scandinavica|volume=7|issue=1|year=1976|pages=13–20|doi= 10.2307/3676170|jstor= 3676170}}</ref>

[[File:Motacilla cinerea MWNH 1570.JPG|thumb|Eggs, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]]]]
In some parts of its range the [[white-throated dipper]] nests in the same habitats as the grey wagtail and there are some records of [[interspecific feeding]] of dipper chicks by adult wagtails.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Dipper Nestlings Fed by a Gray Wagtail|author1=Yoerg, SI  |author2=O'Halloran, J |year=1991|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v108n02/p0427-p0429.pdf|journal=Auk|volume=108|issue=2|pages=427–429}}</ref>

These birds feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrates including adult flies, mayflies, beetles, crustacea and molluscs.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Santamarina, Jesus|year=1989|journal=Ardeola|volume =37|issue=1|pages=97–101|title=The Grey Wagtall (Motacilla cinerea) diet in the Ulla river basin, Galicia. NW Spain|language=es|url=http://www.ardeola.org/files/Ardeola_37%281%29_97-101.pdf}}</ref> They often forage along roadsides in winter, flushing with a sharp ''chi-cheep'' call and flying up further along the road but after some distance turning back to return to the original location.<ref name=hbk/>

In winter, they roost in small groups.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Neelakantan, KK |year=1964|title= Roosting of the Grey Wagtail [''Motacilla caspica'' (Gmelin)] in the Thekkady Wild Life Sanctuary|journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=61|issue=3|pages=691–692| url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48073295}}</ref> Wintering birds have been known to return to the same sites, sometimes a small urban garden, each year.<ref name="hbk">{{cite book |author1=Ali |first=Salim |title=Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 9 |author2=Ripley |first2=S. Dillon |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1998 |edition=2nd |pages=290–292}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Return of Northern Migrants to Tropical Winter Quarters and Banded Birds Recovered in the United States|author=Nickell, Walter P|journal=Bird-Banding|volume=39|issue=2|year=1968|pages= 107–116|doi=10.2307/4511469 |jstor=4511469 }}</ref>

Adults often have parasitic ticks, ''[[Ixodes ricinus]]'', which can harbour ''[[Borrelia]]'' and thus can potentially disperse Lyme disease over a wide region.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Differential Role of Passerine Birds in Distribution of ''Borrelia'' Spirochetes, Based on Data from Ticks Collected from Birds during the Postbreeding Migration Period in Central Europe|author1=Dubska, Lenka |author2=Ivan Literak |author3=Elena Kocianova |author4=Veronika Taragelova |author5=Oldrich Sychra |journal=Applied and Environmental Microbiology|year=2009|pages=596–602 |volume=75|issue=3|doi=10.1128/AEM.01674-08|url= |pmid=19060160|pmc=2632145|bibcode=2009ApEnM..75..596D }}</ref> Coccidia such as ''[[Isospora]]'' sp. are known in this species.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Isospora, Caryospora and Eimeria (Apicomplexa: Passeriform Birds from Czech Republic|author=Svobodova, M|journal=Acta Protozoologica |year=1994|volume= 33|pages=101–108|url=http://www.natur.cuni.cz/parasitology/milenaweb/isospora.pdf}}</ref> The [[common cuckoo]] is sometimes a [[brood parasitism|brood parasite]] of this species,<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Adamík P.|author2=Hušek J.|author3=Cepák J.|year=2009|title=Rapid decline of Common Cuckoo ''Cuculus canorus'' parasitism in Red-backed Shrikes ''Lanius collurio''|url=http://www.zoologie.upol.cz/ruzne/ardea_97-017-022.pdf|journal=Ardea|volume=97|issue=1|pages=17–22|doi=10.5253/078.097.0103|s2cid=86228074 |access-date=2013-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035618/http://www.zoologie.upol.cz/ruzne/ardea_97-017-022.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[kestrel]]s may sometimes prey on them.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Consistent differences in feeding habits between neighbouring breeding kestrels |author1=Costantini, David |author2=Casagrande, Stefania |author3=Di Lieto, Giuseppe |author4=Fanfani, Alberto |author5=Dell'Omo, Giacomo |journal=Behaviour |volume=142 |issue=9–10 |year=2005 |pages=1403–1415 |url=http://www.birdcam.it/files/Behaviour2005.pdf |doi=10.1163/156853905774539409 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710091202/http://www.birdcam.it/files/Behaviour2005.pdf |archive-date=2007-07-10 }}</ref>