Pied Wagtail

janeandphil50 · #1 (**permalink**) 23-12-2010, 09:10 PM

Hi all,

I have a question for you and wondered if you could help me.

For the past week we have had a small pied wagtail come into our garden. He hangs around every day and sits up next to our back door where we have a brilliant view of him.It's like he knows we are there and shows off lol.
I put out a saucer of dried meal worms and suet with insects in all crushed on a tiny plate also a container of water which he drinks from. Every day without fail he comes and sits by his saucer by the back door. I even made him a pile of logs outside with a perch which he sits on and stares in through the back door.Such a lovely sight to see.

Anyway, onto the question! Is it normal for the pied wagtail to be on his own rather then with others and where would he roost? I have 4 roosting houses around the garden and 4 nest boxes.
Also the 4 redwings are visiting the garden but I'm not sure what to feed them apart from fruit. The song thrushes have also appeared today. What a delight it is to see all these birds.

The pied wagtail pic is on my avatar.

angelika611 · #2 (**permalink**) 23-12-2010, 09:25 PM

I have one that sits all day in my garden on his own to,i have seen him chasing another one off,so it seems there a bit like the robin and guard there terrority,i had one last year but it never come in the garden,this year i have read from this site and other sites alot of people are having them in there garden and they are realising thats where theres plenty food,i adore my little waggy i call him my mini penguin to the kids.

janeandphil50 · #3 (**permalink**) 23-12-2010, 09:42 PM

Awww, they do look like little miniature penguins lol.

I've called mine Littlefella lol. My springer spaniel sits looking through the backdoor and watches him as well without even scaring him which I thought she'd do.
Thanks for the info angelika

barquar · #4 (**permalink**) 23-12-2010, 09:43 PM

I to have had a pied wagtail come into my Garden these last few days not seen this before. He is a lovely well marked bird looks healthy enough.Must put some meal worms out for him.
Barquar

scarymonster · #5 (**permalink**) 24-12-2010, 12:03 AM

Me too, I have one visiting on it's own every day since the bad weather arrived. So it seems it is quite normal.

Here's a picture of him I took two days ago. Sorry about the long url link, it's from my facebook album.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7041297_n.jpg

RoyW · #6 (**permalink**) 24-12-2010, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janeandphil50

Anyway, onto the question! Is it normal for the pied wagtail to be on his own rather then with others and where would he roost?

Hi,
It is perfectly normal to see Pied Wagtails feeding singularly, in pairs, or in loose gatherings (usually fairly small).
There is a good chance that your wagtail joins a communal roost somewhere in the area (perhaps a fair distance from your house), which may contain over 100 or more. Roost are sometimes on buildings, but may be in trees/shrubs (eg. ornamental evergreen shrubs). Roosts are often in urban areas because they are often warmer.