What Do Pied Wagtails Eat? (1 Viewer)

[Adam69]

As a new birder I have been pondering this question recently. I have noticed a good number of these fellas and they always seem to be scurrying around on the pavement where to my human eye it looks pretty sparse?

:t:

 

[Keith Dickinson]

Here you go Adam - straight from BWPi


Food
Small invertebrates. 3 main foraging techniques. (1) Picking. Picks items from ground or water surface while walking; will also walk on floating vegetation. (2) Run-picking. Makes quick darting run at prey, picking it up either from surface or as it takes off. (3) Flycatching. Makes short flight from ground, catching prey in mid-air. (Davies 1977.) Will also take food from water while hovering (Glutz von Blotzheim 1962), and recorded hovering repeatedly for periods of c. 5 s, c. 10 cm up, to take small swarming insects (Cope 1985). Tail assists balance when run-picking and flycatching; especially important when turning rapidly in flight (Davies 1977). In winter, feeds at edges of puddles, lakes, and rivers, taking items washed up (Glutz von Blotzheim 1962; Davies 1976; Davies and Houston 1981; Mal'chevski and Pukinski 1983). Also recorded as hunting insects emerging from earth in field turned over by plough (Schmidt 1967b), and will take invertebrates from backs of pigs (Glutz von Blotzheim 1962). Feeds both singly and in flocks (see Social Pattern and Behaviour). Prey usually swallowed whole, but larger items often beaten against ground or rock first (Dolgushin et al. 1970).

 

[Fozzybear]

They always seem to find little flying insects when I watch them, they spend a lot of time doing little jumps to snatch them from the air.

 

[skylark25]

As a new birder I have been pondering this question recently. I have noticed a good number of these fellas and they always seem to be scurrying around on the pavement where to my human eye it looks pretty sparse?

:t:

Adam they eat food:-O:-O

Apart from the joke, I suppose they take small flying insects, seeds, worms and any other small invertebrates.

Thanks for the interesting post Keith:t:

 

[Adam69]

Thanks

Thanks Keith,
A superbly informative reply many thanks.
Adam
:t:

Here you go Adam - straight from BWPi


Food
Small invertebrates. 3 main foraging techniques. (1) Picking. Picks items from ground or water surface while walking; will also walk on floating vegetation. (2) Run-picking. Makes quick darting run at prey, picking it up either from surface or as it takes off. (3) Flycatching. Makes short flight from ground, catching prey in mid-air. (Davies 1977.) Will also take food from water while hovering (Glutz von Blotzheim 1962), and recorded hovering repeatedly for periods of c. 5 s, c. 10 cm up, to take small swarming insects (Cope 1985). Tail assists balance when run-picking and flycatching; especially important when turning rapidly in flight (Davies 1977). In winter, feeds at edges of puddles, lakes, and rivers, taking items washed up (Glutz von Blotzheim 1962; Davies 1976; Davies and Houston 1981; Mal'chevski and Pukinski 1983). Also recorded as hunting insects emerging from earth in field turned over by plough (Schmidt 1967b), and will take invertebrates from backs of pigs (Glutz von Blotzheim 1962). Feeds both singly and in flocks (see Social Pattern and Behaviour). Prey usually swallowed whole, but larger items often beaten against ground or rock first (Dolgushin et al. 1970).

 

[Richard Klim]

I too often wonder how Pied Wags find enough sustenance to fuel their highly active lifestyles - usually ignoring freely-available high-energy food items and instead locked into an eternal quest to seek seemingly microscopic specks of nourishment on roads, lawns etc.

Richard

 

[Himalaya]

How do they survive in winter?

 

[Keith Dickinson]

How do they survive in winter?

Round here you tend to find large numbers of pied wagtails in the supermarket car parks and in the city centre. I'd guess that the temperature there is a little higher than out in the fields so more chance of finding live food.
You also find them thrashing through the leaf litter for insects etc.

 

[Mary]

They will take suet in the garden. I crumble some up into tiny bits that the blackbirds tend to ignore and now have 2 of them who have arrived with the bad weather. They will also come nearer to the house than other birds, obviously used to the human world!

 

[James_Owen]

How do they survive in winter?

Remember reading the main strategy is to work the banks of lakes, reservoirs, etc, hunting for invertebrates that wash up dead or alive. That's why it's only truly exceptional weather that seems to push them into gardens.