Pipits and Wagtails

The wagtails, longclaws, and pipits are small passerine birds with medium to long tails. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predominantly found in Europe, Africa, and Asia, with two species migrating and breeding in Alaska. The pipits have the most cosmopolitan distribution, being found across mostly in the Old World, but occurring also in the Americas and oceanic islands such as New Zealand and the Falklands. Most species are ground-feeding insectivores of slightly open country. They take a wide range of invertebrate prey, but also including spiders, worms, and small aquatic molluscs and arthropods. With the exception of the forest wagtail, these birds prefer to nest on the ground, laying up to six speckled eggs.