Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 5.5–6.7 in
14–17 cm - Wingspan
- 10.6 in
27 cm - Weight
- 0.7–0.9 oz
19–26 g
Other Names
- Water Pipit
- Pipit d’Amérique (French)
- Bisbita de Agua Americana; Alondra acuática (Spanish)
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.
Habitat
Grassland
Breeds in arctic and alpine tundra. In migration and winter uses coastal beaches and marshes, stubble fields, recently plowed fields, mudflats, and river courses.
Food
Insects
Insects and seeds.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 3–7 eggs
- Egg Description
- Whitish with dense dark brown spotting.
- Condition at Hatching
- Downy and helpless.
Nest Description
Open cup of coarse, dried grasses and sedges, with lining of finer grasses and sometimes hair. Placed on ground, with overhanging vegetation.
Nest Placement
Ground
Behavior
Ground Forager
Walks or runs while pecking at ground or gleaning from low vegetation, frequently changing direction; occasional short flights from ground or boulders to pursue prey. Feeds in large flocks in fall and winter.
Conservation
Least Concern
May be declining.
Credits
- 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.