Tree Pipit

Anthus trivialis

Slender and streaked pipit. Feeds on the ground like other pipits, but perches readily in trees or bushes when singing, or alights in tree at end of parachuting song flight. As the name suggests, usually associated with trees (on breeding grounds), but also found in agricultural areas and grassy scrub in winter. All pipits look rather similar and are best identified to species by combination of habitat and voice: Tree Pipit call a high, shrill, buzzy "tzzz"; song more melodic and varied than Meadow Pipit song. ​

Identification

This is a small pipit, which resembles meadow pipit. It is an undistinguished-looking species, streaked brown above and with black markings on a white belly and buff breast below. It can be distinguished from the slightly smaller meadow pipit by its heavier bill and greater contrast between its buff breast and white belly. Tree pipits more readily perch in trees.<p>The call is a strong spek, unlike the weak call of its relative. The song flight is unmistakable. The bird rises a short distance up from a tree, and then parachutes down on stiff wings, the song becoming more drawn out towards the end.

Taxonomy

The tree pipit was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Alauda trivialis. Linnaeus noted that the species occurred in Sweden. The specific epithet trivialis is Latin meaning "common" or "ordinary" from Latin trivium meaning "public street". The tree pipit is now placed in the genus Anthus that was introduced in 1805 by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:

Scientific name
Anthus trivialis
Authority
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Motacillidae
Genus
Anthus

Range and habitat

The tree pipit breeds in habitats with a wooded component, including lowland heath and coppice. It is found mostly in open woodland on the boundary with moorland, or open structured oak woodland – therefore heavy thinning is required to produce a gappy character. It prefers low canopy medium-sized trees, where there is low-growing scrub and bramble less than 2 metres high, so that horizontal visibility is relatively high. It likes a mosaic of grass and bracken, but not very grazed short turf, so light to moderate grazing is preferred.

Breeding range
PAL : widespread
Non-breeding range
India and AF
Migration
Complete migrants

Behavior

Tree pipits nest on the ground amongst grass or heather tussocks. The nest is built by the female. The clutch of 4 to 6 eggs is incubated by the female. The eggs hatch after 12–14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and leave the nest after 12–14 days. The nests are sometimes parasitized by the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus).<p>Tree pipits mainly eat invertebrates, typically insects but will also eat some plant material. They mostly forage on the ground.

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Damara Red-billed Hornbill

Damara Red-billed Hornbill

Tockus damarensis

Fairly small, slim, long-tailed hornbill. Note the red bill, dark eye, pale face, and heavily spotted back. White patches on the wing and outer tail are conspicuous in flight. Found in arid savanna, often in lusher woodland along dry riverbeds. Call is a series of clucks that starts with single notes, then becomes louder and more emphatic, with doubled notes. Has a small area of overlap with the very similar Southern Red-billed Hornbill in northern Namibia. Separated by the unstreaked white face and dark eye, though beware of hybrids. Somewhat like Monteiro’s Hornbill, but smaller and slimmer-billed, with bolder white spotting on the back.

Common Crane

Common Crane

Grus grus

Generally uncommon in open, mainly wild country. Breeds from reedy lakeshores to boggy clearings in boreal forest, winters in wetlands and farmland. Very large and tall, with distinctive "bustle" on lower back. Adult has black-and-white head pattern, small red crown patch. Flight unhurried, with neck outstretched (unlike herons), and stiff wingbeats quickest on upstroke; groups often fly in V-formation, like geese. Loud, rolling calls carry long distances.

European Shag

European Shag

Gulosus aristotelis

Fairly common along seacoasts, nesting on steep cliffs; usually seen as singles or small groups, swimming or flying low over the sea. Does not occur on inland water bodies. Rather large, long-necked dark waterbird; feeds by diving and often leaps a little as it dives. Appreciably smaller and thinner necked than Great Cormorant, with more slender bill. Adult glossy black overall with narrow yellow throat patch; first-year dark smoky grayish overall, variably paler on throat and underparts. By spring, often develops faded pale panel on upperwing.

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