The European Atlas: /. J. Ferguson-Lees

A further selection of maps derived from fieldwork by 15 of the member nations of the EOAC

he background to the production of certain provisional maps by the TEuropean Ornithological Atlas Committee has already been described by Sharrock (1977) in connection with those for the woodpeckers (Picidae). It need only be stated here that they show breeding season records during 1968-76, that the three sizes of dots are those standard in atlas mapping, and that the shaded parts have not yet been surveyed. This paper draws attention to some of the interesting features of western Europe's five breeding pipits Anthus. Two other species — Pechora A. gustavi and Olive-backed A. hodgsoni — also nest in Europe, but are con­ fined to northeast Russia, eastward from the Pechora region, and no atlas mapping has yet been attempted there. The true pipits are a homogeneous group in both form and appearance, but they have an almost cosmopolitan range, with representatives in all six continents, and their habitat requirements differ widely. Thirteen species breed in the Palearctic, in such diverse places as tundras, moun­ tains, moors, heaths, hillsides, marshes, meadows, cultivation, light woodlands, forests, steppes, desert edges, dunes, and rocky coasts. Thus, it is not surprising that one or another is present in almost every part of Europe. In the notes which follow, all unqualified references to Britain and Ireland, Denmark, Finland, France, the German Federal Republic and Poland relate respectively to Sharrock (1976), Dybbro (1976), Merikallio (1958), Yeatman (1976), Rheinwald (1977) and Tomialojc (1976).

Tawny Pipit A. campestris The nests in a fair range of mainly lowland and level habitats, from arable fields, dry pastures and heaths, all with low, thin or scattered vegetation, to dunes and desert edges. Sandy, arid and relatively bare ground seems almost essential, which limits the species in Europe largely to the centre and south. Its northern limits have long been Denmark, southernmost Sweden and Gotland (still shaded here,

[Brit. 71: 245-254, June 1978] 245 94- Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris at nest, Sweden, June 1951 (P. 0. Swanberg) European Atlas: pipits 247 as unsurveyed) and the Baltic States, but the proved breeding in south­ west Finland apparently represents a recent extension, though nesting was thought possible on the Hankoniemi peninsula in 1939-40. On the other hand, there has been some retraction of range in the last 100 years towards the south—for example, in France—-and the Tawny Pipit is generally scarce, local and unevenly distributed in northern France, the Low Countries, Denmark, Germany and Poland. It was found in 24 of 116 50-km squares in the German Federal Republic (20.7%), in only 141 of 1,092 rather smaller squares in France (12.9%) and in a mere 36 of 2,160 5-km squares in Denmark (1.7%). Even where common, it avoids mountains, though nesting up to 1,000 m on, for instance, the plateaux of southern France. The map, though so incomplete for Europe as a whole, illustrates this scattered and discontinuous distribution much better than the solid colouring in the various field guides; it is sometimes suggested that habitat loss due to increased cultivation may be part of the cause, but the species is often absent from suitable areas, even in southern Europe. There has never been any evidence of breeding in Britain and Ireland—apart from the 1905 claim of a nest and eggs in southeast Sussex, now rejected (Nicholson & Ferguson-Lees 1962)—but this species is a medium-distance migrant that winters in Africa, in the arid belt between the Sahara and the equator, and in southwest Asia east to Afghanistan, so not surprisingly it is an annual vagrant here, which amassed 342 records during 1958-76 (Brit. Birds 70: 437), an average of 18 a year.

Tree Pipit A. trivialis The nests in a variety of habitats with trees or tall shrubs, including open woodland, wood edges, parkland, scrub and heaths, both in the lowlands and on hillsides in the north, but largely (though not entirely) in mountains in the south, from 1,000 m to the tree limit (reflected on the map by the distribution in Bulgaria). It has a wider breeding dis­ tribution in Europe than any other pipit, being absent only from Iceland, Ireland, the backbone of Scandinavia, northeast Russia and, in the south, much of Iberia (note the spaces on the map), lowland Italy/ and the Mediterranean islands. Though in Britain it is greatly outnumbered by the Meadow Pipit A. pratensis (their respective populations were estimated under 100,000 and over 3 million pairs, and the Meadow was recorded in almost twice as many squares), it is also the most numerous species in many parts of Continental Europe. In much of Fenno-Scandia, for example, it is one of the commonest of all birds: in 1958, it was the third most abundant species in Finland after the Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus and the Chaffinch Fringilla coelehs, with a population of over 1,650,000 pairs (compared with a mere 230,000 for the Meadow). It was found in 60.6% of the 5-km squares in Denmark, in 82% of the larger squares in France (only 33% for the Meadow), and in 98% of the 50-km squares in the German Federal Republic, and it is fairly numerous and generally distributed in Poland to the upper timber line. 95 & 96. Above, Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis at nest, North Yorkshire, June 1972 (A. Butler); below, Meadow Pipit A. pratensis at nest, Westmorland, May 1964 {J. B. & S. Bottomley) European Atlas: pipits 249

The obvious continuing surprise is its apparent total absence from Ireland, which raises a variety of topics, such as the origins of transequatorial migrants, the effects of the last Ice Age and the species-poverty of islands, but its spread northwards in northern Scotland (Parslow 1973) and Norway (Haftorn 1958) during the last 90 years perhaps indicates that even its colonisation of Britain is comparatively recent. Whereas there are fossil records of Rock Pipits A. spinoletta in England and of Meadow in both England and Ireland, the historical evidence for Tree Pipits in Britain dates back only to 1738 (Fisher 1966). In fact, during the summers of 1974-76, singing males were recorded at fwe places in four Irish counties, one locality being occupied in two successive years {Irish Bird Reports), so perhaps colonisation of the plentiful apparently suitable habitat is be- ginning. The Tree Pipit is entirely a summer visitor to Europe, being a long-distance migrant that winters in tropical Africa and southern Asia. Meadow Pipit A, pratensis The Meadow Pipit breeds essentially in open country, such as tundra, moors, rough pastures and dunes, where the Vegetation is low. It has a more restricted Eurasian ränge than the other species, being confined largely to the western Palearctic west of the Urals, but it alone has colonised Iceland and even the coast of southeast Greenland, and in Britain and Ireland it is easily the commonest pipit with an estimated 25° European Atlas: pipits

population of over 3 million pairs. Elsewhere, except in northern Fenno- Scandia and arctic Russia, and in the open, low-lying areas of Denmark where it was found in 65.8% of 5-km Squares, it is usually outnumbered by the Tree Pipit. It commonly nests from sea-level to over 1,000 m, and locally to 2,000 m or more, but it is not typically a high montane species: this and the fact that it becomes scarcer and more scattered in southern France and is absent from southern Europe are demonstrated by the plotting available for the map. The various field guides have long shown central France as solid, but there is nothing new in this discontinuous distribution: the French atlas findings were not so different from the distribution summarised by N. Mayaud in his Inventaire des Oiseaux de France (1956) and confirm the conclusion of an enquiry in 1961. In many areas in west and south Poland, on the other hand, the species has become very scarce as a result of the drainage of marshlands. Like all pipits, the Meadow feeds essentially on , but it is far less of a migrant than the other European species except the Rock A. spinoletta: perhaps this is because they both winter on wet grasslands, marshes, lake edges and coasts, where food remains more readily available at that season. Nevertheless, the northern and eastern populations of Iceland, Fenno-Scandia, Russia, the Baltic States and Poland move southwest and down into southern Europe and North Africa south to Ahaggar, while some even cross the Sahara. European Atlas: pipits 251 Red-throated Pipit A. cervinus The Red-throated Pipit breeds in the Eurasian tundra from arctic Norway to the Chukotski peninsula in northeast Siberia, and throughout much of this ränge is the only pipit, but it is not numerous in Fenno- Scandia: in 1958, the Finnish population was roughly estimated at a mere 300-350 pairs. It favours swampy areas and damp grasslands, with scrub willow Salix and birch Betula, and coastal swards, and in Lapland has a strong association with wet meadows and cultivation near Settle• ments. The map also shows neatly how the southernmost populations in Scandinavia inhabit upland felis. The Red-throated Pipit is a long- distance migrant, which winters mainly in waterside habitats and wet cultivation in Central Africa south of the Sahara and in southern Asia, but small numbers travel only as far as northwest Africa. The species is a vagrant to Britain and Ireland, with 82 records during 1958-76, two-thirds of them in autumn: this represents an average of 4.3 records a year, but in 1975 there Were as many as 14 and half of those came in April-June (Brit. Birds 69: 352; 70: 449). In this connection, it is inter- esting to note that, after an unusual number of migrants also in Norway that spring, nesting was proved in the county of Hedmark at 62°2o'N, probably the most southerly breeding record ever in Europe (Brit. Birds 70: 219); this does not appear on the map, of course, as no Norwegian atlas data are yet available. 97 & 98. Top, Red-throated Pipit Anthus ceroinus at nest, Sweden, July 1968 (J. B. & S. Bottornley); bottom, Rock Pipit A. spinoletta at nest (J. T. Fisker) European Atlas: pipits 253 Rock Pipit A. spinoletta Unlike the others, the Rock Pipit has a Holarctic distribution, but this is markedly discontinuous in the Palearctic, with a clear ecological division between montane and coastal groups. The mountain forrns, known as Water Pipits, breed on alpine tundras and pastures and on rocky, grassy slopes and plateaux with or without scrub, especially near streams, from about 1,000 m to the snow-line; in contrast, the coastal races are confined to rocky shores and islands, locally extending to adjacent moorland. The map clearly demonstrates the altitudinal division between the two groups, with nominate spinoletta in the mountains of central and southern Europe, and petrosus and littoralis round the coasts of northwest France, Britain, Ireland and Fenno-Scandia. At first sight, the dots may indicate more extensive distributions of spinoletta in the Massif Central of France and of littoralis in Denmark and southern Finland than those shown in the field guides, but the French findings confirm those of Mayaud's Inventaire (1936) and the Danish atlas in fact proved breeding in only 10 of 2,160 5-km Squares, which tend to look larger when converted to a 50-km grid. As for Finland, the population in 1958 was put at a mere 500 pairs and this form is still not very numerous around the Baltic. Another , kleinschmidti, is confined to the Faeroe Islands. Much the commonest coastal race is petrosus, in Britain, Ireland, northwest France and Norway: 254 European Atlas: pipits the British and Irish population was estimated at over 50,000 pairs. Most of the Fenno-Scandian littoralis and petrosus move southwest in winter and the spinoletta vacate the mountains for lowland marshes and flooded grasslands, but as a species this is only a partial migrant which barely crosses the Mediterranean. Acknowledgements The dot-distributions were plotted by Dr J. T. R. Sharrock, by courtesy of the atlas organisations in the EOAC member countries and the delegates who supplied the data: Dr Z. Bogucki, Dr P. Devillers, Dr S. Dontschev, T. Dybbro, K. Hyytia, R. F. Porter, Dr F. Purroy, Dr G. Rheinwald, Dr A. Schifferli, D. Scott, Dr J. T. R. Sharrock, Dr K. Stastny, Dr S. Svensson, Drs R. M. V. Teixeira and L. J. Yeatman. The base map is reproduced by permission of the secretariat of the European Invertebrate Survey. Summary Provisional atlas data from 15 member countries of the European Ornithological Atlas Committee are shown for the five of the seven European pipits Anthus that breed west of Russia. The text describes habitats, ranges and migrations, and draws attention to points brought out already by these early maps. References DYBBRO, T. 1976. De Danske Tnglefugles Udbredelse. pp. 258-262. Copenhagen. FISHER, J. 1966. The Shell Bird Book. p. 327. London. HAFTORN, S. 1958. Population changes, especially geographical changes, in the Norwegian avifauna during the last 100 years. Sterna 3: 105-137. MERIKALLIO, E. 1958. Finnish Birds: Their Distribution and Numbers, pp. 112-114. Helsinki. NICHOLSON, E. M., & FERGUSON-LEES, I.J. 1962. The Hastings Rarities. Brit. Birds 55: 299-384. PARSLOW, J. 1973. Breeding Birds of Britain and Ireland, pp. 164-166. Berkhamsted. RHEINWALD, G. 1977. Atlas der Brutverbreitung westdeutscher Vogelarten. p. 26, and maps 90-92. Bonn. SHARROCK, J. T. R. 1976. The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland, pp. 394-399. Berkhamsted. —— 1977. The European Atlas: woodpeckers. Brit. Birds 70: 476-488. TOMIALOJC, L. 1976. Birds of Poland: A List of Species and their Distribution, pp. 137-138. Warsaw. YEATMAN, L. 1976. Atlas des Oiseaux Nichews de France, pp. 158-162. Paris.

/. J. Ferguson-Lees, 62 High Street, Roxton, Bedford MK44 3ED