Motacilla clara
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on Ren Hathway's illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara), also known as the long-tailed wagtail or grey-backed wagtail, is a species of wagtail of the family Motacillidae from sub-Saharan Africa. A slender, long tailed wagtail with light bluish grey upperparts and white underparts with a narrow black breast band. The wings are black with white feather edges and two white wing covert bars. The outer tail is white and the tail centre is black. The face is blackish broken up with a white supercilium and the eyelid. Juveniles are browner than adults.
The mountain wagtail occurs in the Afromontane, from Guinea to Ethiopia south to South Africa. In southern Africa it is locally common in the north and eastern highlands of Zimbabwe and adjoining parts of Mozambique, southwards to the Eastern Cape.
The mountain wagtail normally prefers small rivers and streams in hill country, especially stretches where there are waterfalls and flat rocks immersed in shallow water and where hill slopes are clothed in forest, woodland or dense scrub. It may also be seen along forest paths, tracks and roads and occasionally in gardens.
The mountain wagtail is... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 5 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 6 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 7 | Aberdare National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 10 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 11 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 13 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 14 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 15 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 16 | Volcanoes National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 17 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 18 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 19 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 3 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Wagtail sighting in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 253rd most-seen of the 369 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Wagtail in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to July, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Wagtail sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 19
Of the 19 parks where we can rate Mountain Wagtail sightings, Lake Nakuru National Park ranks 12th at under 5%. The best odds are in Arusha National Park (Tanzania, about 20%), Lake Manyara National Park (Tanzania, about 20%) and Meru National Park (Kenya, about 20%).
Same genus: Motacilla
The closest relatives of the Mountain Wagtail that you can see in Lake Nakuru National Park (genus Motacilla, Wagtails) are African Pied Wagtail (about 30%) and Western Yellow Wagtail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Wagtail is recorded against all the birds logged in Lake Nakuru National Park (26 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
