wagtail
wag·tail [ ˈwag-ˌtāl]
[ˈwag-ˌtāl]
: any of various chiefly Old World oscine birds (family Motacillidae) related to the pipits and having a long tail that they habitually jerk up and down
Recent Examples on the Web
//Birdsong provides a natural soundtrack, as bulbuls, gray wagtails, warblers, blackbirds, and turtledoves all call the garden home.
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National Geographic, "Visit a designer’s oasis in the heart of Marrakech," 20 Sep. 2019
//A female duck grabbed the grey wagtail in her beak, dunked it several times beneath the water, then ate it, Petrovan says.
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Arden Dier, Fox News, "Think ducks are cute? This might change your mind," 3 July 2017
//The area is unusually abundant with animal life: the novel’s first chapter teems with wagtails, willow warblers, geese, horses, snow leopards, wolves, sheep, goats, geckos, and frogs.
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Evan James, The New Yorker, "The Mysterious Frontiers of Can Xue," 8 June 2017
First Known Use of wagtail
1510, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries near wagtail