Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Breeding) [NT(br)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | Motacilla flava subsp. flavissima |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Motacilla flava |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Linnaeus, 1758 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | in s41 as Motacilla flava subsp. flavissima |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Long term significant decline Eng BBS (25 yr -39%, 10 yr non signif +13%). 5 and 1yr trends fluctuate. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | targeted management required to reverse species decline. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Semi-natural grassland with bare areas, shallow-edged ponds or wet ditches in the field, that are susceptible to prolonged winter/spring flooding, Upland hay meadows. In-field non- cropped areas (e.g. skylark and fallow plots) in an arable landscape. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Policy conflict (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | Requires targeted management actions |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Deliver ecological needs at an appropriate scale for Yellow Wagtail including safe nesting habitat and summer food resources on all agricultural landscapes across England.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Landscape/catchment/marine management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Further investigate breeding ecology, particularly within mixed and grassland systems to identify potential solutions.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Trial solutions to improve breeding outcomes for Yellow Wagtails nesting in arable cereals to prevent late season nesting in cropped habitats where nests suffer high predation rates.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.