Motacilla grandis
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on Ren Hathway's illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis) is a species of bird in the pipit and wagtail family Motacillidae. It is native to Japan and Korea. The Japanese wagtail is about 20 cm long. The sexes look similar; they have white underparts and black upperparts, throats, and backs. Their supercilia are also white. They have black beaks and dark grey legs and feet. The plumage of a juvenile is greyer than that of an adult.
The bird's Latin species name, grandis, means large. The Japanese wagtail is classed as a species of least concern by the IUCN. It has a stable population. The Japanese wagtail eats insects. Large groups of Japanese wagtails roost together in trees.
Nests are built in cavities near water. The parents both look after the eggs and chicks. Four to six eggs are laid in each clutch. It is native to Japan and Korea. Vagrant birds have been recorded in Taiwan, eastern China and far-eastern Russia. It lives in inland wetlands, on arable land and in urban areas. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ueno Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Japanese Wagtail sighting in Nikko National Park on a given day, based on 88 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 45th most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Japanese Wagtail in Nikko National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February and May–October, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Japanese 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.
Only Nikko National Park, in our data
Nikko National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Japanese Wagtail sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Motacilla
The closest relatives of the Japanese Wagtail that you can see in Nikko National Park (genus Motacilla, Wagtails) are White Wagtail (about 40%) and Grey Wagtail (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Japanese Wagtail is recorded against all the birds logged in Nikko National Park (88 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.
