Western yellow wagtail

Motacilla flava

The Western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) is a bird found in Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark, United Kingdom, India, and 5 more countries. Meadows and wetlands across Europe and Asia; winters in Africa. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, fruit and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Motacilla flava
Region	Europe
Found in	Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark, United Kingdom, India, and 5 more countries

🏡 Where the Western yellow wagtail lives

Meadows and wetlands across Europe and Asia; winters in Africa.

🍽️ What it eats

🐛 Insects & bugs70%
🍎 Fruit10%
🌰 Seeds & nuts10%
🌿 Leaves & plants10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It follows grazing cows and catches insects they stir up.

Hear the Western yellow wagtail

Recorded by Stanislas Wroza (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1134968. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Western yellow wagtail

Where does the Western yellow wagtail live?

The Western yellow wagtail lives in Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark, United Kingdom, India, and 5 more countries. Meadows and wetlands across Europe and Asia; winters in Africa.

What does the Western yellow wagtail eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 70%), fruit (about 10%), seeds and nuts (about 10%), leaves and other plant parts (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Western yellow wagtail endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Europe

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.