22-4-2014 GANDIA PLAYA, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

13-4-2016 MONTE CORONA - WAVED UMBER MOTH (Menophra abruptaria)

Menophra abruptaria, the waved umber, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1792. It is found in south-western North Africa, southern Europe and Anatolia; in the north, it is found from England to Switzerland and south-western Germany. The wingspan is 36–42 mm. Adults are on wing from April to June. Normally, there is one generation per year, although there can be a partial second generation in summer.

The larvae feed on Ligustrum ovalifolium and Syringa vulgaris.

13-4-2016 MONTE CORONA - HOUSE SPARROW (MALE) (Passer domesticus)

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a mass of 24–39.5 g (0.85–1.39 oz). Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and a large part of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird.

The house sparrow is strongly associated with human habitation, and can live in urban or rural settings. Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive woodlands, grasslands, polar regions, and hot, dry deserts far away from human development. For sustenance, the house sparrow routinely feeds at home and public bird feeding stations, but naturally feeds on the seeds of grains, flowering plants and weeds. However, it is an opportunistic, omnivorous eater, and commonly catches insects, their larvae, caterpillars, invertebrates and many other natural foods.

19-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - WHITE WAGTAIL (Motacilla alba)

The White wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a small insectivorous bird of the 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 is the national bird of Latvia and has been featured on the stamps of several countries.

The White wagtail is a slender bird with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. There are a number of other subspecies, some of which may have arisen because of partial geographical isolation, such as the resident British and Irish form, the pied wagtail M. a. yarrellii, which now also breeds in adjacent areas of the neighbouring European mainland. The Pied wagtail exchanges the grey colour of the nominate form with black (or very dark grey in females), but is otherwise identical in its behaviour. Other subspecies, the validity of some of which is questionable, differ in the colour of the wings, back, and head, or other features. Some races show sexual dimorphism during the breeding season. As many as six subspecies may be present in the wintering ground in India or Southeast Asia and here they can be difficult to distinguish.

White wagtails breed throughout Eurasia, only being absent in the Arctic. They also breed in the mountains of Morocco and western Alaska. These birds are residents in the milder parts of their range such as western Europe and the Mediterranean, but migratory in much of the rest of their range. Northern European breeders winter around the Mediterranean and in tropical and subtropical Africa, and Asiatic birds move to the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. Birds from the North American population also winter in tropical Asia. White wagtails occupy a wide range of habitats but are absent from deserts. They inhabit grasslands, seashores, rocky shorelines, sand beaches, tidepools, rivers, lakeshores, farmland, gardens, and parks. They are also often found in towns and villages.

White wagtails are usually seen alone or in pairs, but during migration, they often gather in flocks at good feeding areas or roost at night. These birds feed by day on the ground or on the wing. They may also forage in shallow water catching prey in the mud or may hover over water. The most conspicuous habit of White wagtails is a near-constant tail wagging, a trait that has given the birds their common name. The reasons for this behavior are poorly understood but it has been suggested that wagtails may flush prey, or signal submissiveness to other wagtails. The call of these birds is a sharp 'chisick' and their song consists of twittering phrases; the males use a series of contact calls to attract the female.

9-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor)

The spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor ) is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is closely related to the common starling (S. vulgaris ), but has a much more restricted range, confined to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. It is largely non-migratory.

The adult spotless starling is very similar to the common starling, but marginally larger (21–23 cm length; 70–100 g weight), and has darker, oily-looking black plumage, slightly purple- or green-glossed in bright light, which is entirely spotless in spring and summer, and only with very small pale spots in winter plumage, formed by the pale tips of the feathers. It also differs in having conspicuously longer throat feathers (twice the length of those on common starlings), forming a shaggy "beard" which is particularly obvious when the bird is singing. Its legs are bright pink. In summer, the bill is yellow with a bluish base in males and a pinkish base in females; in winter, it is duller, often blackish. Young birds are dull brown, darker than young common starlings, and have a black bill and brown legs. 

Confusion with the common starling is particularly easy during the winter, when common starlings are abundant throughout the spotless starling's range, but also in summer where their breeding ranges overlap in northeastern Spain and the far south of France. It can also be confused with the common blackbird (Turdus merula ), which differs most obviously in its longer tail and lack of plumage gloss.

Like the common starling, it walks rather than hops, and has a strong direct flight, looking triangular-winged and short-tailed. It is a noisy bird and a good mimic; its calls are similar to the common starling's, but louder.

The spotless starling uses a wide range of habitats and can be found in any reasonably open environment, from farmland and olive groves to human habitation. The highest population densities are in open grazed holm oak woods, and in urban habitats such as Gibraltar, where it is common. The population has grown in recent decades with a northward expansion in range, spreading to the whole of Spain (previously absent from the northeast) between 1950 and 1980, and colonising locally along the southern coast of mainland France since 1983. Like its more common relative, it is an omnivore, taking a wide variety of invertebrates, berries, and human-provided scraps. It is gregarious, forming sizeable flocks, often mixed with common starlings, of up to 100,000 in winter.

Like most starlings, it is a cavity-nesting species, breeding in tree holes, buildings and in cliff crevices. It typically lays three to five eggs.

19-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE RINGED PLOVER (Charadrius dubius)

The little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius ) is a small plover. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in river valleys (kharadra, "ravine"). The specific dubius is Latin for doubtful, since Sonnerat, writing in 1776, thought this bird might be just a variant of common ringed plover.

Adult little ringed plovers have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill. The legs are flesh-coloured and the toes are all webbed.

This species differs from the larger ringed plover in leg colour, the head pattern, and the presence of a clear yellow eye-ring.

Their breeding habitat is open gravel areas near freshwater, including gravel pits, islands and river edges across the Palearctic including northwestern Africa. They nest on the ground on stones with little or no plant growth. Both males and females take turns incubating the eggs.

They are migratory and winter in Africa. These birds forage for food on muddy areas, usually by sight. They eat insects and worms.

The little ringed plover is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

19-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

The Little egret (Egretta garzetta) is small elegant heron in the family Ardeidae. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. At one time common in Western Europe, the Little heron was hunted extensively in the 19th century to provide plumes for the decoration of hats and became locally extinct in Northwestern Europe and scarce in the south. Around 1950, conservation laws were introduced in southern Europe to protect the species and their numbers began to increase.

The plumage of the Little egret is normally entirely white, although there are dark forms with largely bluish-grey plumage. In the breeding season, the adult has two long plumes on the nape that form a crest. These plumes are about 150 mm (6 in) and are pointed and very narrow. There are similar feathers on the breast, but the barbs are more widely spread. There are also several elongated scapular feathers that have long loose barbs and may be 200 mm (8 in) long. During the winter the plumage is similar but the scapulars are shorter and more normal in appearance. The bill is long and slender and it and the lores are black. There is an area of greenish-grey bare skin at the base of the lower mandible and around the eye which has a yellow iris. The legs are black and the feet yellow. Juveniles are similar to non-breeding adults but have greenish-black legs and duller yellow feet, and may have a certain proportion of greyish or brownish feathers. The subspecies nigripes differs in having yellow skin between the bill and eye, and blackish feet. During the height of courtship, the lores turn red and the feet of the yellow-footed races turn red.

19-4-2015 DEAD SEA, ISRAEL - WHITE CROWNED WHEATEAR (Oenanthe leucopyga)

The white-crowned wheatear, or white-crowned black wheatear (Oenanthe leucopyga) is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae.

This large 17–18 cm long wheatear breeds in stony deserts from the Sahara and Arabia across to Iraq. It is largely resident but has occurred as a rare vagrant to western Europe as far away as Great Britain. It nests in crevices in rocks or walls laying 3-5 eggs.

Although most wheatear species have distinctive male and female plumages, adults of both sexes of this species are black except for a white rump and mainly white tail. Full adults have a white crown, not shown by young birds.

The similar black wheatear, Oenanthe leucura, also breeds in the western part of the white-crowned wheatear's range, but the latter has a black inverted T on its white tail, whereas white-crowned has only a black centre to its tail. The black wheatear never has a white crown.

This species mainly eats insects. This wheatear has a loud song, more varied than most of its relatives and often including mimicry.

19-4-2015 JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - LAUGHING DOVE (Spilopelia senegalensis)

The laughing dove (Spilopelia senegalensis) is a small pigeon that is a resident breeder in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Western Australia where it has established itself in the wild after being released from Perth Zoo in 1898. This small long-tailed dove is found in dry scrub and semi-desert habitats where pairs can often be seen feeding on the ground. It is closely related to the spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) which is distinguished by a white and black chequered necklace. Other names include laughing turtle dove, palm dove and Senegal dove while in Asia the name little brown dove is often used.

19-4-2015 DEAD SEA, ISRAEL - WHITE SPECTACLED BULBUL (Pycnonotus xanthopygos)

The white-spectacled bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygos) is a member of the bulbul family. It is 20–25 cm (7.9–9.8 in) in length with a wingspan of 20–25 cm (7.9–9.8 in). These birds live in fruit plantations, gardens, and cities. It is the most common member of the bulbul family in Israel and Lebanon. In Turkey, it is mainly found in the coastal Mediterranean region, but its range extends from Patara/Gelemiş near Kaş in the west to Türkoğlu in the east. Breeding populations are found from Central and Southern Turkey to Western Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Western Jordan, Palestine, Sinai and western, central and southern Arabia.

Both sexes are similar; juveniles have a browner hood and less obvious eye-rings than the adults. The nest – a small cup of thin twigs, grass stems, leaves and moss – is generally located in bushes and lined with hair, shredded bark and small roots.

18-4-2016 MARCHUQUERA, VALENCIA - SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY (Pararge aegeria)

The aptly named Speckled Wood flies in partially shaded woodland with dappled sunlight. The male usually perches in a small pool of sunlight, from where it rises rapidly to intercept any intruder. Both sexes feed on honeydew in the treetops and are rarely seen feeding on flowers, except early and late in the year when aphid activity is low.

The range of this butterfly contracted during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but has spread back since the 1920s. It has continued to spread over the past two decades, recolonizing many areas in eastern and northern England and Scotland.

The speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) is a butterfly found in and on the borders of woodland areas throughout much of the Palearctic realm. The species is subdivided into multiple subspecies, including Pararge aegeria aegeria, Pararge aegeria tircis, Pararge aegeria oblita, and Pararge aegeria insula. The color of this butterfly varies between subspecies. The existence of these subspecies is due to variation in morphology down a gradient corresponding to a geographic cline. The background of the wings ranges from brown to orange, and the spots are either pale yellow, white, cream, or a tawny orange. The speckled wood feeds on a variety of grass species. The males of this species exhibit two types of mate locating behaviors: territorial defense and patrolling. The proportion of males exhibiting these two strategies changes based on ecological conditions. The monandrous female must choose which type of male can help her reproduce successfully. Her decision is heavily influenced by environmental conditions.

18-4-2016 ALMISERA, VALENCIA - IBERIAN GREEN FROG (Pelophylax perezi)

The Perez's frog (Pelophylax perezi), also known as Iberian waterfrog, Iberian green frog or Coruna frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to southern France, Portugal, Spain, and has been introduced to the Canary and Balearic Islands, Madeira, the United Kingdom, and the Azores. In the Iberian Peninsula it is widespread and common.

Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, sandy shores, arable land, and urban areas. It is not considered threatened by the IUCN.

17-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor)

The spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor ) is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is closely related to the common starling (S. vulgaris ), but has a much more restricted range, confined to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. It is largely non-migratory.

The adult spotless starling is very similar to the common starling, but marginally larger (21–23 cm length; 70–100 g weight), and has darker, oily-looking black plumage, slightly purple- or green-glossed in bright light, which is entirely spotless in spring and summer, and only with very small pale spots in winter plumage, formed by the pale tips of the feathers. It also differs in having conspicuously longer throat feathers (twice the length of those on common starlings), forming a shaggy "beard" which is particularly obvious when the bird is singing. Its legs are bright pink. In summer, the bill is yellow with a bluish base in males and a pinkish base in females; in winter, it is duller, often blackish. Young birds are dull brown, darker than young common starlings, and have a black bill and brown legs. Confusion with the common starling is particularly easy during the winter, when common starlings are abundant throughout the spotless starling's range, but also in summer where their breeding ranges overlap in northeastern Spain and the far south of France. It can also be confused with the common blackbird (Turdus merula ), which differs most obviously in its longer tail and lack of plumage gloss.

Like the common starling, it walks rather than hops, and has a strong direct flight, looking triangular-winged and short-tailed. It is a noisy bird and a good mimic; its calls are similar to the common starling's, but louder.

17-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - HOUSE SPARROW (MALE) (Passer domesticus)

Once one of Britain’s commonest birds, numbers have crashed in recent years. London lost three-quarters of its sparrows between 1994 and 2000.

In some urban areas the population has fallen by 99%.

The cause of the sudden decline remains a mystery, though many improbable theories have been put forward, ranging from unleaded petrol to the use of mobile phones.

When sparrows were at their most numerous a century ago, there were many sparrow clubs whose members competed to kill the most birds in a year.

Though a long-established resident of Britain, it’s not thought to be a native, but spread naturally north from North Africa.

Man has always had a love-hate relationship with the cheeky sparrow. They have been introduced successfully to numerous countries around the world, including both North and South America, East and South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The common sparrow in eastern Asia is not the house sparrow but its cousin, the tree sparrow.

DNA research has shown that 15% of offspring are the result of either the cock or hen mating with another partner, confirming the sparrow’s reputation for sexual infidelity.

They are very sociable birds, often nesting in colonies.

Their adaptability can be gauged by the fact that they have been found living and breeding 2000ft underground in a coalmine; others have been recorded living their whole lives inside warehouses.

Few birds are happier in the company of man than the house sparrow, and for much of the year it is rare to find them far from human habitations.

House sparrows are non-migratory, but urban flocks traditionally moved to the countryside in the late summer to feed on the ripening grain fields.

Though adults are mainly vegetarian, young birds need a high proportion of animal matter (insects) in their diet when first hatched.

They are quick to learn new feeding habits, soon adapting to taking food from suspended nut feeders, a habit first noted in the late 1960s.

They have been observed catching moths, attracted to a light, at night.

The distinctive Italian sparrow is thought to be a stabilised hybrid between the house and the Spanish sparrow.

They frequently take over the nests of house martins, while in many parts of Europe they often nest in colonies in the base of white storks’ nests.

Most pairs will try and raise at least two and often three broods a year.

Incubation takes just 11 days, and two weeks later the young will leave the nest.

Cats are major predators of juvenile house sparrows, killing large numbers of the inexperienced birds soon after they have left the nest.

17-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN SERIN (Serinus serinus)

The European serin, or simply the serin (Serinus serinus ), is the smallest European species of the family of finches (Fringillidae) and is closely related to the Atlantic canary. Its diet consists mainly of a combination of buds and seeds.

The European serin is a small short-tailed bird, 11–12 cm in length. The upper parts are dark-streaked greyish green, with a yellow rump. The yellow breast and white belly are also heavily streaked. The male has a brighter yellow face and breast, yellow wing bars and yellow tail sides. The song of this bird is a buzzing trill, very familiar in Mediterranean countries.

It breeds across southern and central Europe and North Africa. Southern and Atlantic coast populations are largely resident, but the northern breeders migrate further south in Europe for the winter. Open woodland and cultivation, often with some conifers, is favoured for breeding. It builds its nest in a shrub or tree, laying 3–5 eggs. It forms flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with other finches.

The food is mainly seeds, and, in the breeding season, insects. This small serin is an active and often conspicuous bird.

17-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN MOORHEN (Gallinula chloropus)

The Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a bird species in the rail family (Rallidae) found across many parts of the Old World. These birds live around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals, and other wetlands. The word 'moor' as a part of their name is an old sense meaning marsh.

Common moorhens have predominantly black and brown plumage, with the exception of a white under-tail, white streaks on the flanks, yellow legs, and a red frontal shield. The bill is red with a yellow tip. The young are browner and lack the red shield. The frontal shield of the adult has a rounded top and fairly parallel sides; the tailward margin of the red unfeathered area is a smooth waving line.

Population size

2.9-6.2 Mln

Life Span

3 years

Top speed

35

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

192-500

goz

g oz 

Length

30-38

cminch

cm inch 

Wingspan

50-62

cminch

17-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE RINGED PLOVER (Charadrius dubius)

The little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius ) is a small plover. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in river valleys (kharadra, "ravine"). The specific dubius is Latin for doubtful, since Sonnerat, writing in 1776, thought this bird might be just a variant of common ringed plover.

Adult little ringed plovers have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill. The legs are flesh-coloured and the toes are all webbed.

This species differs from the larger ringed plover in leg colour, the head pattern, and the presence of a clear yellow eye-ring.

Their breeding habitat is open gravel areas near freshwater, including gravel pits, islands and river edges across the Palearctic including northwestern Africa. They nest on the ground on stones with little or no plant growth. Both males and females take turns incubating the eggs.

They are migratory and winter in Africa. These birds forage for food on muddy areas, usually by sight. They eat insects and worms.

They are monogamous for the first brood, and occasionally for several years. They usually nest solitary or in loose groups with well-spaced nests. They may breed near aggressive shorebirds which are able to keep predators away from the area. The Little Ringed Plover is territorial and highly aggressive.The Little Ringed Plover is a small plover with a distinctive black and white head pattern, similar to the Ringed Plover. It has a black beak and pale (not orange) legs. Close views reveal a distinctive yellow eye-ring. In flight, it shows a plain brown wing without the white wing stripe that Ringed Plover has. It first bred in the UK in 1938 and is now a year-round resident of a large part of England and Wales – thanks to man-made habitats such as gravel pits. It's listed as a Schedule 1 species under The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Summer in Europe with wintering in the Mediterranean region and Africa. It is quite common but often local and often goes unnoticed. Breeds on stony substrates around lakes, gravel pits and along rivers. In migration it appears in a wide variety of freshwater and brackish water wetland habitats, but rarely in open tidal areas. The dull pinkish legs stand out. Plumage very similar to that of the more robust Ringed Plover, but the white eyebrow is continuous along the forehead where, up close, a narrow yellow eye ring can be seen. In flight it shows a narrow and indistinct white wing band. The call is a dry “piu” very different from the call of the Common Ringed Plover.

17-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. The genus name comes from the Provençal French Aigrette, "egret", a diminutive of Aigron," heron". The species epithet garzetta is from the Italian name for this bird, garzetta or sgarzetta.

It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed. A clutch of three to five bluish-green eggs is laid and incubated by both parents for about three weeks. The young fledge at about six weeks of age.

Its breeding distribution is in wetlands in warm temperate to tropical parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. A successful colonist, its range has gradually expanded north, with stable and self-sustaining populations now present in the United Kingdom.

In warmer locations, most birds are permanent residents; northern populations, including many European birds, migrate to Africa and southern Asia to over-winter there. The birds may also wander north in late summer after the breeding season, and their tendency to disperse may have assisted in the recent expansion of the bird's range. At one time common in Western Europe, it was hunted extensively in the 19th century to provide plumes for the decoration of hats and became locally extinct in northwestern Europe and scarce in the south. Around 1950, conservation laws were introduced in southern Europe to protect the species and their numbers began to increase. By the beginning of the 21st century the bird was breeding again in France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain. Its range is continuing to expand westward, and the species has begun to colonise the New World; it was first seen in Barbados in 1954 and first bred there in 1994. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the bird's global conservation status as being of "least concern".

Little egrets are sociable birds and are often seen in small flocks. They are diurnal birds and feed mainly in the early morning and in the late afternoon. They use a variety of methods to procure their food; they stalk their prey in shallow water, often running with raised wings or shuffling their feet to disturb small fish, or may stand still and wait to ambush prey. Little egrets also make use of opportunities provided by cormorants disturbing fish or humans attracting fish by throwing bread into the water. On land, they walk or run while chasing their prey, feed on creatures disturbed by grazing livestock and ticks on the livestock, and even scavenge occasionally. Little egrets are silent birds in general, however, at their breeding colonies, they make various croaking and bubbling calls. When disturbed, they produce a harsh alarm call.

17-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla cinerea)

This slim wagtail has a narrow white supercilium and a broken eye ring. The upperparts are grey and the yellow vent contrasting with whitish underparts makes it distinctive. The breeding male has a black throat that is edged by whitish moustachial stripes. They forage singly or in pairs on meadows or on shallow water marshes. They also use rocks in water and will often perch on trees. They have a clear sharp call note and the song consists of trills.

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. 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. 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. 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. 

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. The incubation period is about two weeks with chicks fledging within a fortnight. They live for a maximum of 8 years in the wild.

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 lakes, coasts and other watery habitats. Like other wagtails, they frequently wag their tail and fly low with undulations and they have a sharp call that is often given in flight.