By Gabriel Mushi- Guide, Greystoke Mahale.
African pied wagtail is one of the birds found in mahale mountain national park, especially to the lowland open parts of the forest. This bird is black and white in color and you can diff btw male and female by the black breast band in which male band is broader than female. They have a tendency of waging their tail up and down when resting hence the name.
There is one pair that is often seen around Greystoke camp, and this pair mostly accompanies our boats on the way in and out up to the certain distance and fly back either to nearby trees or back to camp awaiting the boat return. Their habit of following the boats especially MV Gwekulo, is because they have their nest in the cabin of the boat. They enter the cabin of the boat through the small opening in front of the boat. Sometime you will see them with grasses and thin roots bringing them to the boat for nest making. Their nest is like a bulk cup composed of dry grass, stem and roots. After laying eggs one will continue to incubate and raise the chicks when the boats depart to the airstrip sometime up to 7 hours before coming back. They are among the birds that have the habit of reusing their nest, so they have used their nest in the Gwekulo boat for some few years now by repairing it when nesting. The reason for them using the boat for nesting is probably because Vervet monkey and Yellow baboons do not get in to the boat so protecting their eggs from predation by these Monkeys.
