American Pipit

Anthus rubescensOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

American Pipit

American Pipit: Small pipit, gray-brown upperparts and pale buff underparts; breast is faintly to darkly streaked. Tail is dark with white edges. Black bill is thin and long. Legs and feet are black. It can be distinguished from sparrows by its longer bill and habit of wagging its tail up and down.

● Song: "chee-chee-chee", "cheedal-cheedal-cheedal", "pip"

● Foraging & Feeding: American Pipit: Feeds on insects, spiders, mites, mollusks, crustaceans, and aquatic worms; forages while walking on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: American Pipit: Three to seven gray white eggs, marked with brown, are laid in a cup of grass and twigs built on the ground sheltered by a rock or tussock. Incubation ranges from 13 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: American Pipit: Sprague's Pipit has fewer streaks on underparts, more streaks on back, paler face, and pink legs. Sparrows and Longspurs have thick, conical bills.

Flight Pattern

Swift flight on series of rapidly beating wings.

● Range & Habitat: American Pipit: Breeds from northern Alaska, Mackenzie, Canadian Arctic islands, and Newfoundland, south in mountains to California, New Mexico, and northern New Hampshire. Spends winters across the southern states and north to British Columbia and southern New England. Preferred habitats include Arctic and alpine tundra, beaches, barren fields, agricultural lands, and golf courses.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationWidespread

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.8 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America

American Pipit

American Pipit

Flight Pattern