Wagtails and Pipits: Family Motacillidae

The Motacillidae family is made up of 65 species of Wagtails, Pipits and Longclaws. Representatives of this family occur all over the world. Scientists call this a "cosmopolitan" distribution. (Yes, like the magazine, which also happens to have a cosmopolitan distribution) Longclaws are mainly distributed in Africa, while Wagtails can be found through out Eurasia. Pipits can be found throughout the Old and New World.

All of these groups are medium sized, ground dwelling birds that live in open areas like grasslands and wetlands. Wagtails are brighter in color than their cousins, and are often streaked with white and yellow plumage. Motacillids are nearly exclusively insectivorous, feeding in large flocks during the non-breeding season and individually during the breeding season. Over 90% of their day is consumed by consuming, foraging for insects along the banks of rivers, ponds, lakes, and marshes.

Well Grounded

Motacillids spend almost their entire day foraging on the ground, and rarely, if ever fly up into trees to forage, perch, or nest. While on the ground, they are very fast runners, and prefer to run and hide in grass if they sense danger, rather than fly. (Silly birds, you can fly, man!) Pipits are often dull brown colors to camouflage themselves against the grasses, and are generally very good at escaping predators by hiding. Watching these birds on the ground is always a treat, because as their name suggests, they shake their rumps up and down and bob their head as they run.

The preference for ground-dwelling comes from spending a good deal of time on the ground foraging for insects along the banks of water sources. These areas are where many insects are often deposited. Many species forage so well that it their behavior is characterized by the optimal foraging theory. This theory implies that they select only those prey items that will give them the most bang for their buck, meaning the food items that will give the most calories for the least amount of energy expended. Only the juiciest of bugs will do normally. This behavior changes a little bit during the breeding season, when individuals spend a good deal of energy defending their territory, rather than optimizing their food intake. Males in this family vigorously defend their territory from intruders, and will sometimes even attack their own reflection!

Optimal foraging has come from millions of years of practice in relatively fruitful habitats. Though they seem like they know what they are doing, they are very sensitive to habitat loss and pollution. When a wetland or grassland becomes polluted or degraded, insect diversity drops significantly. When the right types of prey species aren't available, Wagtails and Pipits often suffer the consequences. Several species are threatened because of habitat loss.

Taxonomy and Evolution

These birds are found nearly worldwide, which has, in the past, made it difficult to study where they radiated from originally. Thanks to studies using evidence from mitochondrial DNA and other molecular clocks, scientists have been more successful in determining how these birds spread, and when. It seems that most of the diversity that we see in this family has originated in the last 5-7 million years. There are now 6 genera of Wagtails, Pipits and Longclaws and 65 species. Genera include:

Genus Anthus
Genus Tmetothylacus
Genus Motacilla
Genus Dendronanthus
Genus Macronyx