The willy (or willie) wagtail (''Rhipidura leucophrys'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

, and Eastern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is a common and familiar bird throughout much of its range, living in most habitats apart from thick forest. Measuring in length, the willie wagtail is contrastingly coloured with almost entirely black upperparts and white underparts; the male and female have similar plumage. Three subspecies are recognised; ''Rhipidura leucophrys leucophrys'' from central and southern Australia, the smaller ''R. l. picata'' from northern Australia, and the larger ''R. l. melaleuca'' from New Guinea and islands in its vicinity. It is unrelated to the true wagtails of the genus '' Motacilla''; it is a member of the fantail genus ''

Rhipidura Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...

'' and is a part of a "core corvine" group that includes true crows and ravens,

drongo The drongos are a family, Dicruridae, of passerine birds of the Old World tropics. The 30 species in the family are placed in a single genus, ''Dicrurus''. Drongos are mostly black or dark grey, short-legged birds, with an upright stance when ...

s and

birds of paradise The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. The family has 44 species in 17 genera. The members of this ...

. Within this group, fantails are placed either in the family Dicruridae, alongside drongos, or in their own small family, Rhipiduridae. The willie wagtail is

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

and spends much time chasing prey in open

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

. Its common name is derived from its habit of wagging its tail horizontally when foraging on the ground. Aggressive and territorial, the willie wagtail will often harass much larger birds such as the

laughing kookaburra The laughing kookaburra (''Dacelo novaeguineae'') is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a brown eye-stripe. The upperparts are mostly dark brown but there is a mottled light ...

and

wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

. It has responded well to human alteration of the landscape and is a common sight in urban lawns, parks, and gardens. It is widely featured in Aboriginal

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

around Australia and New Guinea in a variety of roles, from stealer of secrets and liar to a good omen for successful crops.

Taxonomy and etymology

The willie wagtail was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as ''

Turdus True thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus ''Turdus'' of the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for "thrush". The term " thrush" is used for many other birds of the family T ...

leucophrys''. Its specific epithet is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

words ''leukos'' "white" and ''ǒphrys'' "eyebrow". Other early scientific names include ''

Muscicapa ''Muscicapa'' is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and therein to the typical flycatchers of subfamily Muscicapinae. They are widespread across Europe, Africa and Asia with most species occur ...

tricolor'' by

Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collect ...

, and ''Rhipidura motacilloides'' by naturalists

Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow on 17 ...

and

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and natural history, naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the Eas ...

in 1827, who erected the genus ''Rhipidura''. The generic term is derived from the Ancient Greek ''rhipis'' "fan" and ''oura'' "tail".

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

and other early writers referred to the species as the black-and-white fantail, although did note the current name. However, ''willie wagtail'' rapidly became widely accepted sometime after 1916. ''Wagtail'' is derived from its active behaviour, while the origins of ''willie'' are obscure.Boles, p. 381 The name had been in use colloquially for the pied subspecies of the

white wagtail The white wagtail (''Motacilla alba'') is a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which also includes pipits and longclaws. The species breeds in much of Europe and the Asian Palearctic and parts of North Africa. It has a toehold in ...

(''Motacilla alba'') on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Other vernacular names applied include shepherd's companion (because it accompanied

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

), frogbird, morning bird, and Australian nightingale.Boles, p. 387 Many Aboriginal names are

onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

, based on the sound of its scolding call.Boles, p. 382 ''Djididjidi'' is a name from the South West (Noongar) region of Western Australia, and ' is used by the

Kunwinjku The Kunwinjku (formerly written Gunwinggu) people are an Australian Aboriginal people, one of several groups within the Bininj people, who live around West Arnhem Land to the east of Darwin, Northern Territory. Kunwinjku people generally refer t ...

of western

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

. In

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

, southwest of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

, the

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...

word is '. Among the

Kamilaroi The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

, it is '. In Bougainville Island, it is called ' in the Banoni language from the west coast, and in Awaipa of Kieta district it is '. In the Solomon Islands Pijin it is sometimes called the ' (police) or ' (priest) bird, because of its black-and-white colouring. The willie wagtail is unrelated to the

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

wagtail Wagtails are a group of passerine birds that form the genus ''Motacilla'' in the family Motacillidae. The forest wagtail belongs to the monotypic genus ''Dendronanthus'' which is closely related to ''Motacilla'' and sometimes included therein. T ...

s of the family

Motacillidae The wagtails, longclaws, and pipits are a family, Motacillidae, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Around 70 species occur in five genera. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predominan ...

. It is one of 47 members of the

fantail Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...

genus ''

''; some authorities classify this group of birds as a subfamily Rhipidurinae within the drongo family Dicruridae, together with the

monarch flycatcher The monarchs (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivorous songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland a ...

s, while others consider them distinct enough to warrant their own family

Rhipiduridae The family Rhipiduridae are small insectivorous birds of Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent that includes the fantails and silktails. Taxonomy and systematics There are four genera classified within the family: * Subfamily R ...

. Early molecular research in the late 1980s and early 1990s revealed that the fantails belong to a large group of mainly Australasian birds known as the

parvorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Corvida The "Corvida" were one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri, as proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the other being Passerida. Standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder. More recent resea ...

comprising many tropical and Australian passerines. More recently, the grouping has been refined somewhat and the fantails have been classified in a "core corvine" group with the crows and ravens,

shrikes Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in four genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also know ...

s and mudnest builders.

Subspecies

The following three subspecies are widely recognised: * ''R. leucophrys leucophrys'', the nominate subspecies, is the most widely distributed form found in

. The description below refers to it. There is negligible variation within this form, and little between the three; all have very similar plumage. * ''R. leucophrys picata'' was described by John Gould in 1848. It is found across northern Australia, from northern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It has shorter wings, and it has a gradient in wing length between latitudes 18–22°S across the Australian continent where this subspecies intergrades with ''leucophrys''. The subspecific epithet is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''pǐcata'' "smeared with pitch". * ''R. leucophrys melaleuca'' was described by French naturalists

Jean René Constant Quoy Jean René Constant Quoy (10 November 1790 in Maillé, Vendée, Maillé – 4 July 1869 in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort) was a French naval surgeon, zoologist and anatomist. In 1806, he began his medical studies at the school of naval ...

and

Joseph Paul Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ...

in 1830. It occurs in eastern

, the

and the

. It is significantly larger, with longer bristles and larger bill. Its subspecific name is derived from the Ancient Greek ''melas'' "black", and ''leukos'' "white".

Description

An adult willie wagtail is between in length and weighs 17–24 g (0.6–0.85 oz), with a tail 10–11 cm (approx 4 in) long. The short, slender bill measures 1.64–1.93 cm (around 0.75 in), and is tipped with a small hook. This species has longer legs than other fantails, which may be an adaptation to foraging on the ground. The male and female have similar

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

; the head, throat, upper breast, wings, upperparts, and tail are all black, with a white eyebrow, "whiskers" and underparts. The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

and legs are black and the

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

dark brown. Immature birds in their first year after moulting from juvenile plumage may have pale tips in their wings, while juvenile birds themselves have duller plumage, their upperparts brown-tinged with some pale brown scallops on the head and breast.Higgins ''et al.'' p. 226

Vocalisation

The wagtail is very "chatty" and has a number of distinct vocalisations. Its most-recognised sound is its alarm call which is a rapid ''chit-chit-chit-chit'', although it has more melodious sounds in its repertoire. The alarm call is sounded to warn off potential rivals and threats from its territory and also seems to serve as a signal to its mate when a potential threat is in the area. John Gould reported that it sounded like a child's rattle or "small cog-wheels of a steam mill". In his book ''What Bird is That?'' (1935), Neville Cayley writes that it has "a pleasant call resembling ''sweet pretty little creature'', frequently uttered during the day or night, especially on moonlight nights".

Distribution and habitat

Widespread and abundant, the willie wagtail is found across most of Australia and

, the

, and eastern

. It is sedentary across most of Australia, though some areas have recorded seasonal movements; it is an autumn and winter visitor to northeastern New South Wales and southeast Queensland, as well as the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...

and parts of

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

in the far north. It is a vagrant to Tasmania, and on occasion reaches

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

. There is one record from

Mangere Island Mangere Island (Moriori: ''Maung’ Rē'') is part of the Chatham Islands archipelago, located about east of New Zealand's South Island and has an area of . The island lies off the west coast of Pitt Island, south-east of the main settlement in ...

in the Chatham Islands archipelago east of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 2002. The willie wagtail was released in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

around 1922 to control insects on livestock, but the introduction was unsuccessful and the last sighting was at

Koko Head Koko Head is the headland that defines the eastern side of Maunalua Bay along the southeastern side of the Island of Oahu in Hawaii. On its western slope is the community of Portlock, a part of Hawaii Kai. Koko Head (at 642 ft or 196 m) is a ...

in 1937. The willie wagtail is at home in a wide variety of habitats, but avoids densely forested areas such as rainforest. It prefers semi-open woodland or grassland with scattered trees, often near wetlands or bodies of water. In New Guinea, it inhabits man-made clearings and grasslands, as well as open forest and mangroves. On

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, it was reported from open areas and coconut groves. It has responded well to human alteration of the landscape and can often be seen hunting in open, grassed areas such as lawns, gardens, parkland, and sporting grounds. The species spread into the Western Australian Wheatbelt after the original vegetation had been cleared for agriculture.

Behaviour

The willie wagtail is almost always on the move and rarely still for more than a few moments during daylight hours. Even while perching it will flick its tail from side to side, twisting about looking for prey. Birds are mostly encountered singly or in pairs, although they may gather in small flocks. Unlike other fantails, much of its time is spent on the ground.Coates, p. 140 It beats its wings deeply in flight, interspersed with a swift flying dip. It characteristically wags its tail upon landing after a short dipping flight. The willie wagtail is highly

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

and can be quite fearless in defence of its territory; it will harass not only small birds but also much larger species such as the

Australian magpie The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subs ...

(''Gymnorhina tibicen''),

raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

(''Corvus coronoides''),

(''Dacelo novaeguineae''), and

(''Aquila audax''). It may even attack domestic dogs, cats and humans which approach its nest too closely. It has also been observed harassing snake-neck turtles and tiger snakes in Western Australia. When harassing an opponent, the willie wagtail avoids the head and aims for the rear. Both the male and female may engage in this behaviour, and generally more intensely in the breeding season. Territories range from in area.Higgins ''et al.'' p. 234 A pair of birds will declare and defend their territory against other pairs in a ''diving display''. One bird remains still while the other loops and dives repeatedly before the roles are reversed; both sing all the while. The bird's white eyebrows become flared and more prominent in an ''aggressive display'', and settled and more hidden when in a submissive or ''appeasement display''.Boles, p. 384

Breeding

Willie wagtails usually pair for life. The breeding season lasts from July to December, more often occurring after rain in drier regions. Anywhere up to four

broods Broods is a New Zealand musical duo from Nelson, composed of Georgia Josiena Nott on lead vocals, with older brother and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Allan Joseph Nott on production and backing vocals. They released the single "Bridges", which w ...

may be raised during this time. It builds a cup-like nest on a tree branch away from leaves or cover, less than above the ground.

Rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...

s and

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

may also be used. It has been observed to build its nest in the vicinity of those of the

magpie-lark The magpie-lark (''Grallina cyanoleuca''), also known as wee magpie, peewee, peewit or mudlark, is a passerine bird native to Australia, Timor and southern New Guinea. The male and female both have black and white plumage, though with different ...

(''Grallina cyanoleuca''), possibly taking advantage of the latter bird's territoriality and aggression toward intruders. Similarly, it is not afraid to build near human habitation. The nest consists of grass stems, strips of bark, and other fibrous material which is bound and woven together with

spider web A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word '' coppe'', meaning "spider") is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey. Spid ...

. Even hair from pet dogs and cats may be used. It has also been observed attempting to take hair from a pet goat. An alpaca breeder in the Mudgee District of New South Wales has observed alpaca fleece in the nests of willy wagtails (the results of scraps of fleece not picked up at shearing time). The female lays two to four small cream-white

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

with brownish markings measuring , and incubates them for 14 days. Like all

s, the chicks are

altricial In biology, altricial species are those in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth. Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the mome ...

and

nidicolous In biology, nidifugous ( , ) organisms are those that leave the nest shortly after hatching or birth. The term is derived from Latin ''nidus'' for "nest" and ''fugere'', meaning "to flee". The terminology is most often used to describe birds and w ...

; they are born naked and helpless with closed eyes, and remain in the nest. Both parents take part in feeding the young, and may continue to do so while embarking on another brood. Nestlings remain in the nest for around 14 days before fledging. Upon leaving, the fledglings will remain hidden in cover nearby for one or two days before venturing further afield, up to away by the third day. Parents will stop feeding their fledglings near the end of the second week, as the young birds increasingly forage for themselves, and soon afterwards drive them out of the territory.Higgins ''et al.'' p. 242 The female

pallid cuckoo The pallid cuckoo (''Cacomantis pallidus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, with some migration to the islands of Timor and Papua New Guinea. It is between 28 and 33 cm ...

(''Cuculus pallidus'') will lay eggs in a willie wagtail

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

, although the hosts often recognise and eject the foreign eggs, so successful

brood parasitism Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own ...

is rare. Parasitism by the fan-tailed (''Cacomantis flabelliformis''),

brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...

, (''C. variolosus''), Horsfield's bronze (''Chrysococcyx basalis''), and

shining bronze cuckoo The shining bronze cuckoo (''Chrysococcyx lucidus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae, found in Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It was previously also known as ''Ch ...

(''C. lucidus'') has also been reported. Although the willie wagtail is an aggressive defender of its nest,

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

do account for many eggs and young. About two thirds of eggs hatch successfully, and a third leave the nest as fledglings. Nestlings may be preyed upon by both pied butcherbirds, (''Cracticus nigrogularis'')

black butcherbird The black butcherbird (''Melloria quoyi'', also known as ''Cracticus quoyi'') is a species of butcherbird in the family Artamidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry ...

s (''C. quoyi''), the spangled drongo (''Dicrurus bracteatus''), and the

pied currawong The pied currawong (''Strepera graculina'') is a black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus ''Strepera'', it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of ...

(''Strepera graculina''), as well as the

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

(''Felis catus''), and rat species. The proximity of nesting to human habitation has also left nests open to destruction by children. Mostly male willie wagtails sing at night only during breeding season. The song rate increases with lunar illumination.

Feeding

The willie wagtail perches on low branches, fences, posts, and the like, watching for insects and other small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s in the air or on the ground. It usually hunts by

hawking Hawking may refer to: People * Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist * Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name) Film * ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Ha ...

flying insects such as

gnat A gnat () is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. Most often they fly in large num ...

s, flies, and small moths, but will occasionally

glean Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legall ...

from the ground. It will often hop along the ground and flit behind people and animals, such as cattle, sheep or horses, as they walk over grassed areas, to catch any creatures disturbed by their passing. It wags its tail in a horizontal fashion while foraging in this manner; the exact purpose of this behaviour is unknown but is thought to help flush out insects hidden in vegetation and hence make them easier to catch. The willie wagtail takes ticks from the skin of

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

animals such as cattle or pigs, even from lions asleep in a zoo. It kills its prey by bashing it against a hard surface, or holding it and pulling off the wings before extracting the edible insides. The adaptability and opportunistic diet of the willie wagtail have probably assisted it in adapting to human habitation; it eats a wide variety of

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s, including

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

, bugs,

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

s, and

millipede Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a resu ...

s, and has been recorded killing small lizards such as

skinks Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

and

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

s in a study in

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histor ...

on Papua New Guinea's north coast. The tailbones of these lizards have been found in their

faeces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...

although it is unclear whether the whole animal was eaten or merely the tail. Either way, lizards are only a very occasional prey item forming between 1 and 3% of the total diet. Evidence from the study in Madang suggested that the willie wagtail selectively fed nestlings larger prey.

Cultural depictions

The willie wagtail was a feature in

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

. Aboriginal tribes in parts of southeastern Australia, such as the

Ngarrindjeri The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term ''Ngarrindjeri'' means "belo ...

of the Lower

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

, and the Narrunga People of the

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Strai ...

, regard the willie wagtail as the bearer of bad news. It was thought that the willie wagtail could steal a person's secrets while lingering around camps eavesdropping, so women would be tight-lipped in the presence of the bird. The people of the Kimberley held a similar belief that it would inform the spirit of the recently departed if living relatives spoke badly of them. They also venerated the willie wagtail as the most intelligent of all animals. Its cleverness is also seen in a Tinputz tale of Bougainville Island, where ''Singsing Tongereng'' (Willie Wagtail) wins a contest among all birds to see who can fly the highest, by riding on the back of the eagle. However, the Kunwinjku in western Arnhem Land took a dimmer view and regarded it as a liar and a tattletale. The willie wagtail was held to have stolen fire and tried to extinguish it in the sea in a dreaming story of the

Yindjibarndi The Yindjibarndi are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They form the majority of Aboriginal people around Roebourne (the Millstream area). Their traditional lands lie around the Fortescue River. Langua ...

people of the central and western

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

, and was able to send a strong wind if frightened. In the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

language dialects, the willie wagtail is known as the ''Djiti-Djiti'' (pronounced ''Chitti-chitti)'' and the ''Willaring'' in the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

region. The

Kalam ''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...

people of New Guinea highlands called it ''konmayd'', and deemed it a good bird; if it came and chattered when a new garden was tilled, then there would be good crops. It is said to be taking care of pigs if it is darting and calling around them. It may also be the manifestation of the ghost of paternal relatives to the Kalam. Called the ''kuritoro'' bird in New Guinea's eastern highlands, its appearance was significant in the mourning ceremony by a widow for her dead husband. She would offer him banana flowers; the presence of the bird singing nearby would confirm that the dead man's soul had taken the offering. A tale from the Kieta district of Bougainville Island relates that a ''maneka'', the willie wagtail, darting along a river bank echoes a legendary daughter looking for her mother who drowned trying to cross a flooding river in a storm. The bird has been depicted on postage stamps in

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

and the Solomon Islands, and has also appeared as a character in Australian children's literature, such as ''

Dot and the Kangaroo ''Dot and the Kangaroo'' is an 1899 Australian children's book written by Ethel C. Pedley about a little girl named Dot who gets lost in the Australian outback and is eventually befriended by a kangaroo and several other marsupials. The book wa ...

'' (1899), '' Blinky Bill Grows Up'' (1935), and ''Willie Wagtail and Other Tales'' (1929).

References

Cited texts

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External links

Species information on Avibase

Videos, photos & sounds
– Internet Bird Collection {{Featured article

willie wagtail The willy (or willie) wagtail (''Rhipidura leucophrys'') is a passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Eastern Indonesia. It is a common and familiar bird throughout much of its range, ...

Birds of Australia Birds of Victoria (Australia) Birds of the Maluku Islands Birds of New Guinea Birds of the Solomon Islands

Articles containing video clips

Taxonomy and etymology

Subspecies

Description

Vocalisation

Distribution and habitat

Behaviour

Breeding

Feeding

Cultural depictions

See also

References

Cited texts

External links