Alpine Pipit
Anthus gutturalis
A medium-sized bird of Alpine Grasslands. Brown upperparts with faintly streaked back and crown, dark wing feathers with pale edges, cream to pale buff underparts and a broad pale eyebrow. Prefers short grass with bushes nearby. Similar to Australasian Pipit but Alpine is larger, found at higher elevations and has buffy underparts and unstreaked chest. A rich and varied song. Several whistled notes are given before changing to the next set with different pitch, tone, sometimes rising or falling.
Identification
The Alpine Pipet is a medium sized bird that lives in the Alpine Grasslands. It has a light brown back and wings with tan colored tips to its back feathers. Its chest is a strong tan color, matching the color of its similar tan tips of its back feathers and wings. The Pipit has a skinny pointed beak. Directly under the tail, the bird has medium length red legs attached to long-toed pronged feet. The Pipet also has three long tail feathers that extend about two inches off the back of its body.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Anthus gutturalis
- Authority
- De Vis, 1894
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
- Genus
- Anthus
Range and habitat
The Alpine Pipit is native to Indonesia: Papua New Guinea. It lives in alpine grassland at the highest part of the mountain ranges in Papua New Guinea. These mountains are from 3200m to 4500m high, and sometimes the Alpine Pipit will go down to mountains 2500 m high. The Alpine Pipet is often found near shrubs and short grass. The system it lives in is Terrestrial, and its habitat type is Grassland.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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