BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Grey Wagtail

GREY WAGTAIL
Motacilla cinerea

Conservation listings

Europe: no SPEC category (favourable conservation status in Europe, not concentrated in Europe)
UK: amber (25-50% population decline)

Long-term trend

UK: moderate decline

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

Grey Wagtail populations are most dense in northern and western Britain. WBS shows a fluctuating population size, with a fall during the late 1970s and early 1980s from an initial high point in 1974. The species has recently been moved from the green to the amber list, because of a 41% 'moderate decline' recorded between 1975 and 1999, but the current figures show a considerable reduction in overall decline as the population has entered a new phase of increase. The trends for Grey Wagtail are very similar to those for Pied Wagtail, suggesting that similar factors may be affecting these two species. Clutch and brood size of Grey Wagtails have possibly declined slightly over the past 15-20 years, but nest failure rates have also decreased over the same period.

Table of population changes for Grey Wagtail

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert	Comment
WBS waterways	27	1975-2002	56	-26	-44	-5	>25
	25	1977-2002	56	-12	-31	7
	10	1992-2002	62	23	11	35
	5	1997-2002	54	36	27	48
BBS UK	9	1994-2003	162	53	26	85
BBS England	9	1994-2003	102	60	27	103

Table of productivity information for Grey Wagtail

Variable Period
(yrs) Years Mean
annual
sample Trend Predicted
in first year Predicted
in last year Change Comment

Clutch size 34 1968-2002 41 Curvilinear 4.68 eggs 4.79 eggs 0.11 eggs

Brood size 34 1968-2002 85 Curvilinear 3.93 chicks 4.08 chicks 0.15 chicks

Daily failure rate (eggs) 34 1968-2002 62 None

Daily failure rate (chicks) 34 1968-2002 61 Curvilinear 0.0155 nests/day 0.007 nests/day -0.0085 nests/day

Laying date 34 1968-2002 64 None

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species


	BTO Home \| JNCC Home BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, UK. © British Trust for Ornithology (Registered Charity Number 216652). Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement Email:
This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006