wagtail

wagtail Definition

wag·tail (wag′tāl′)

noun

any of numerous small passerine birds (family Motacillidae) mostly native to Europe, characterized by long wing feathers and a very long tail that wags up and down
☆ any of various similar birds, as an American waterthrush

wagtail Usage Examples

Converse of object

see: We have been pleased to see a gray wagtail visiting the garden again over the last 2 weeks.
head: The open grasslands produced more Great bustards, Collared pratincole, lots of lapwing, redshank and blue headed wagtails.
include: More welcome wildlife spotted included gray wagtails, mallards and blackbirds.
watch: I watch a wagtail 's pulsing throat; It's nesting in the sacristy.

Adjective modifier

pied: Pied Wagtail The Pied Wagtail is found mostly in the British Isles.
yellow: He had seen up to 15 Yellow Wagtails in fields on the farm.
gray: We also saw a pair of gray wagtails, in very smart fresh breeding plumage, running about in the shallows chasing insects.
male: As I left I stopped to look at a fluorescent male Yellow Wagtail on a plowed field.
white: The grassland seemed to support almost no birds except for the white wagtail which was very common.
blue-headed: A Water Pipit flew by and a Blue-headed Wagtail.

Modifies a noun

Noun used with modifier

alba: A Lapland Bunting passed over at the Bill, where the bulk of visible passage otherwise consisted of Linnets and alba wagtails.
citrine: Citrine Wagtail: probably a regular migrant in small numbers.
gray: It's a young gray wagtail whose tail hasn't grown to full length yet.
flava: A dry well grazed area produced three woodchat shrikes along with masked shrike, 3 species of wheatear and hundreds of flava wagtail species.

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