Grey Wagtail

The grey wagtail is a slim wagtail, 18–19cm long, with grey upperparts, a narrow white eyebrow, a broken eye-ring and yellow underparts restricted mainly to the throat and vent, contrasting with whitish underparts. The breeding male has a black throat edged by whitish moustache stripes. It looks somewhat like the yellow wagtail, but has much less yellow below (Wikipedia, general species account).

When breeding it is always found by running water, sometimes nesting on man-made structures near streams; outside the breeding season it also uses lakes, coasts and other wet places. It forages alone or in pairs on meadows and shallow marshes and from rocks in water, and often perches in trees. Like other wagtails it constantly wags its tail, flies low with undulations and gives a sharp call, often in flight. SoIB 2023 lists it as mainly a winter migrant in India, estimates a long-term decline of about 47% and a current fall of about 4% a year, and rates it a Moderate conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).