American Pipit
| Anthus rubescens |
Order PASSERIFORMES - Family MOTACILLIDAE |
American Pipit subspecies pacificus on breeding grounds north of Nome, Alaska, August 2004.
About the photographs
Male American Pipit, Mt. Evans, Colorado, July.
Menu
- Description
- Sound
- Conservation Status
- Other Names
- Cool Facts
- Full detailed species account
The American Pipit is a small, slender, drab bird of open country. Although it appears similar to sparrows, it can be distinguished by its thin bill and its habit of bobbing its tail.
Description
- Medium-sized songbird.
- Brown and striped.
- Thin bill.
- White outer tail feathers.
- Bobs tail up and down.
- Size: 14-17 cm (6-7 in)
- Wingspan: 27 cm (11 in)
- Weight: 19-26 g (0.67-0.92 ounces)
Sex Differences
Sexes look alike, male slightly larger.
Sound
Song a series of high, jangling notes. Call a quick, dry "pip-it."
»listen to songs of this species
Conservation Status
May be declining.
Other Names
Pipit d?Amérique (French)
Bisbita de Agua Americana; Alondra acuática (Spanish)
Water Pipit (English)
Cool Facts
- The American Pipit was long known as the Water Pipit
(Anthus spinoletta
), a wide ranging species with seven subspecies occurring
from the shores of Great Britain and Scandinavia, and the high mountains of
Europe and central Asia, to North America. Recent taxonomic studies, however,
have shown that the three North American subspecies, along with the most
eastern Asiatic one, are best regarded as a distinct species.
- In an alpine population in the Beartooth Mountains
of Wyoming, a snow storm buried 17 American Pipit nests for 24 hours. All of
the nestlings that were 11 days or older survived, but only a few of the
younger ones did.
Sources used to construct this page:
Verbeek, N. A. M. and P. Hendricks. 1994. American Pipit (Anthus rubescens). In The Birds of North America, No. 95 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists? Union.
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