The Field Identification of North American Pipits Ben King Illustrated by Peter Hayman and Pieter Prall
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The field identification of North American pipits Ben King Illustrated by Peter Hayman and Pieter Prall LTHOUGHTHEWATER PIPIT (Anthus ground in open country. However, the in this paper. inoletta) and the Sprague's Pipit two speciesof tree-pipits use trees for (Antbus spragueit)are fairly easy to rec- singing and refuge and are often in NCEABIRD HAS been recognized asa ogmze using the current popular field wooded areas. pipit, the first thing to checkis the guides, the five species more recently All the pipits discussedin the paper, ground color of the back. Is it brown added to the North American list are except perhaps the Sprague's, move (what shade?), olive, or gray? Then note more difficult to identify and sometimes their tails in a peculiarpumping motion, the black streaks on the back. Are they present a real field challenge. The field down and then up. Some species broad or narrow, sharply or vaguely de- •dentffication of these latter specieshas "pump" their tails more than others. fined, conspicuousor faint? How exten- not yet been adequatelydealt with in the This tail motion is often referred to as sive are they? Then check for pale North American literature. However, "wagging." While the term "wag" does streaks on the back. Are there none, much field work on the identification of include up and down motion as well as two, four, many? What color are they-- pipits has been done in the last few side to side movement, it is better to use whitish, buff, brownish buff? Are they years, especially in Alaska and the the more specificterm "pump" which is conspicuousor faint? Discerningthese Urnted Kingdom. This paper is an at- restricted to up and down movements characteristics of the back will narrow tempt to summarize what is now known and more preciselydescribes what pipits your bird down to one or two species. about the field identification of the do with their tails. Then the color of the underparts should sevenspecies of pipits that are known to Note that while some specieshave dis- be studied. Are they white, buff, pinkish occur in North America. tinct breeding(spring) and non-breeding buff? Are they concolorous or is the All sevenspecies of pipits treated here (fall) plumages,a few individuals(prob- breast or throat a different color from are 6-7 inches (15-18 cm.) in length and ably first year) of those speciesdo not the belly? Is there little, moderate or have a slender build, a thin warbler-like acquire breedingplumage in the spring. heavy black streakingon the breast?Are bill, streakeddark upperpartswith a pale Thus non-breeding plumaged birds are there streaks on the flanks? What color eyebrow and two pale wing bars, a dark regularly seenin spring and can be con- is the eyebrow? Is it white, buff or pink- tall with white or whitish outer tail fusing. ish buff? Is it all one color? Does the feathers, pale underparts, usually with The calls of the pipits are all similar, bird pump its tail down and up? How some dark streakson the breast. Pipits and yet mostly distinct. However, the frequently? Is the hindclaw shorter or walk, rather than hop, often with some differencesare often subtle and require longer than the hindtoe? By the time tall movement. Their flight is undulating experience to detect in the field. you've answered these questions, most and they often give a distinct call when Observers,especially those in Alaska, pipits will already be identified. Those flushed or flying. Most sing their songs should be aware that speciesnot yet few that aren't will require more careful while hovering, gliding, fluttering or found in North Americamight eventual- study, both of the bird and the following circling in the air. They feed on the ly occur. Thosespecies are not dealt with text to determinetheir identity. distinctand easily differentiated from other pipits by their pale WATER PIPIT grayish upperpartswith faint and indistinct broad blackish streaks(and no pale streaks)on the crown and the back; un- Distribution streakedhindneck, rump and uppertail coverts;dark pinkish The Water Pipit, Anthus spinoletta, is found throughout buff eyebrowand underparts,with a necklaceof black streaks North America and is our most commonand bestknown pipit. acrossthe breast and a few black streakson the flanks; It breeds in the Palearctic region of Eurasia and in northern somewhatlonger tail; brownto blacklegs (all otherpipits have North America (Vaurie, 1959). In North America, it breeds pale legs). Of the other pipits, the one that most resemblesthe across the arctic region from Alaska to Greenland, and on breedingWater Pipit is the OliveTree-Pipit. The WaterPipit mountain tops in Maine, British Columbia, Washington, Ore- has grayer upperparts;darker and more uniform buffy gon, Utah, Colorado, northern Arizona and north central eyebrowand underparts;hindclaw that is slightlylonger than New Mexico (American Ornithologists' Union, 1957). North hindtoe;different call; and rarely perchesin trees. American Water Pipits winter on the Pacific Coast from Brit- ish Columbia south and from the southern United States south The breedingplumage of the Water Pipit is acquiredin late to Guatemala. While the American Ornithologists' Union winterand earlyspring. The amountof blackstreaking on the (1957) splitsthe North American Water Pipits into three sub- breast and flanks ranges from moderate to almost none species,A.s. pacificus, A. s. rubescens,and A. s. alticola, I However, even the moderately streaked birds have con- follow Vaurie (1959) in treating them as one race, A. s. rubes- spicuouslyless streaking on their underpartsthan the other cens, for the purposesof this paper. pipits consideredhere, exceptSprague's and breedingRed- throated.The buff of the centerof bellyand undertail coverts Plumagesand Identification is paler than that of the breast, and some individualshave a paler buff to whitishthroat. The narrowblackish gray malar Breeding-plumagedWater Pipits (A. s. rubescens)are quite stripefrom the lower mandiblecan be complete,broken or 778 AmericanBirds, September 1981 missing.The buffy band along the lower edgeof the brownish- The Sprague'sP•plt, Anthus spragueu, breedson the northern gray ear coverts is often not clearly defined. The buffy Great Plains from northern Alberta to central Manitoba, eyebrow is broad and conspicuous,especially in front of the south to Montana, North Dakota and northeastern Minneso- eye. The color of the upperpartsranges from brownish gray to ta. It migrates through the Great Plains and winters from gray-brown and that of the two pale wing bars from dusky southern Arizona to northwestern Mississippi and south •n white or buffy to grayish buff or brownish buff. The tail is Mexico to Michoacan, Puebla and Veracruz (American Orm- black with grayish edging on the feathers, the outermost pair thologists' Union, 1957). Vagrants both east and west of the mostly white, the penultimatepair with a short to long narrow Great Plains have been noted during migration, e.g., fall rec- triangle of white on the tip of the inner web, and the next pair ords in California (Dunn, 1976). often with a smallwhite spot at the tip. The wing lining and ax- illaries are dusky buff, and the underside of primaries and Plumagesand Identification secondariesdark dusky. The Sprague's Pipit can readily be differentiated from other The non-breedingplumage of the Water Pipit is acquired in pipits by pale, rather plain bully looking sidesof head; black late summer. It differs from that of other pipits by its dark streakson underpartsconfined to a necklaceof narrow dark gray-brown to dark brown upperparts, without pale streaks, streaksacross breast, with no streakson flanks;paler upper- and the broad blackish streaksfaint, indistinct and limited to parts, especiallyhindneck, with bold dark streakingthrough- the crown and back; uniform, pale buff to bright buff under- out; furtive habits; call. parts, with moderateto heavy black streakingon the breast and flanks; dark legs. Occasionally birds have two-to-four The dark brown eye contrasts conspicuouslywith the pale inconspicuouspaler streaks on back. The eyebrow is buffy. bully eye-ringand lores and generallypale sidesof head. The The color and pattern of the wing bars and tail are as in pale buffy eyebrow is indistinct. The ear coverts are rather breedingplumage. The upper tail covertsare a slightlywarmer plain brownish buff to bully brown, usually with a rufescent brown than the rest of the upperparts. The buffy malar stripe tinge. The sidesand rear of the neck are buff with narrow dark outlining the lower border of the ear covertsand the blackish streaks, and the crown brownish buff with sharply deftned malar line are usuallywell-defined. On the folded wing in fresh black streaks. The back and scapularsare warm sandy brown plumage, the longesttertiary reachesor nearly reachesthe tip or bully brown (often with a slight rufescent tinge), w•th of the longestprimary. Featherwear on the terriariesis heavy, broad black streaks, broad bully to brownish buff streakson however,and a badly worn longesttertiary may fall as much as the upper back, and a paler and more prominent buffy stripe 16mm. (0.6 inch) short of the primary tip. down each side of the back. Narrow buffy brown to brownish The first fall bird is like the non-breedingadult but the up- buff feather edgesgive the back and scapularsa faint scalyap- perpartsare browner, and often tinged chocolate;the eyebrow pearance at close range (especiallywhen the bird is freshly and underpartsare a darker, deeperpinkish buff,' often has molted). The wings are blackish brown with whitish to buffy pale legs. brown feather edging and two whitish to buffy wing bars. The Other race rump and upper tail coverts, which look a little paler than the back, are warm sandy brown with narrow black streaks. The outermosttwo pairs of tail feathersare almost entirely white, Another race of the Water Pipit, A.