Author: Emily Kench. This blog post originally appeared as a feature in the Eastern Daily Press Weekend magazine on 17 June 2017.
I’m not a particularly detail-oriented person. I tend to be interested in the bigger picture which on occasion means that I miss out on the intricacies of nature. Whilst I could tell you all about the reasons why our wildlife is in decline, the importance of giving nature a home, and the general characteristics of certain species, I would struggle to tell you in detail the scientifically-proven qualities that make them special.
For instance, I could tell you that yellow wagtails are vibrant, yellow birds that favour damp habitats and farmland. However, until this week when I took the time to sit down and research these special flashes of yellow, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that in mainland Europe, there are six or seven different races of yellow wagtails. These races can be differentiated by their varying facial patterns and are collectively known as ‘flava wagtails’. Across the world, the number of recognised races triples to 18 – a highly diverse species!
The race of yellow wagtail we see here in the UK graces our shores to breed throughout spring and summer. They join us from their wintering grounds in West Africa, unscathed from the hooves of grazing cattle. These little wagtails weigh no more than 22g, yet they chance trampling from livestock in hope of a tasty treat. It’s easy to fear the worst when a bird hops into the imprints of hooves, yet yellow wagtails always seem to emerge with an insect exposed by a cow’s mowing muzzle.
Photo credit: Andy Hay
Wagtails only eat insects. In addition to making the most of insects disturbed by cattle, they’ve employed a couple of their own feeding techniques. The name ‘wagtail’ is self-explanatory – wagtails wag their tails. Normally we associate wagging tails with our faithful hounds that move their appendage to communicate emotions. Dissimilarly wagtails practice tail-wagging to assist them during feeding. Birds run along the ground chasing mobile prey, wagging their tail apparently to flush insects.
The use of this incredible tail doesn’t end there. Wagtails employ another feeding technique called flycatching where they sally out from a perch, performing a zigzagging flight, tumbling and circling with their tail acting as a rudder, snapping at flying insects, trying to catch their prey.
These feeding techniques are not exclusive to warmer climes; wagtails mirror them here in the UK too, making the most of our remaining wet meadows, grazing marshes and river valleys. More recently, yellow wagtails have diversified their habitat, and now make the most of arable farmland, particularly for breeding.
Despite this diversification, our wonderful wagtails are in decline in the UK – over 25 years these yellow beauties have declined by 67%. The intensification of both arable and pastoral farming is likely to have driven these declines with changes to nesting habitat and a reduction in the availability of insects to eat. It is also likely, given the yellow wagtail’s status as a global citizen that changes in African wintering grounds and migratory routes may also has contributed to their decline.
Yet, much like other declining farmland species there is still hope! At RSPB Hope Farm, our 181-hectare working farm in Cambridgeshire, by offering open swards for nesting and more untamed areas to forage, these birds have now colonised this once vacant site.
Such a wonderful success story shows not only how nature can have its place alongside profitable farming but that we should also take more time to appreciate the little things in life.
If you’d like more information on yellow wagtails or RSPB Hope Farm please visit rspb.org.uk
A list of the available RSPB member packages could be found here: www.rspb.org.uk/join
List of activities to follow in order to give nature home in your garden could be found here: www.rspb.org.uk/myplan .