American Pipit
Anthus rubescens
Slender and drab songbird of open country. Usually grayish above and streaked below, but some lack streaks in breeding season. Distinguished from similar-looking (unrelated) sparrows by thin bill and lanky appearance with long legs. Walks on the ground with jerky motions and frequently bobs tail. Flocks are often heard as they pass overhead or flush from a barren field; listen for sharp, high-pitched call notes and look for flashing white outer tail feathers. Song, given from a perch or in flight, is an often impressively lengthy series of repetitive, high-pitched notes.
Identification
Like most other pipits, the buff-bellied pipit is an undistinguished-looking species which usually can be seen to run around on the ground. The rubescens subspecies (or American pipit) has lightly streaked grey-brown upperparts and is diffusely streaked below on the buff breast and flanks. The belly is whitish, the bill and legs are dark. The japonicus subspecies (or Japanese pipit) is darker above and has bolder black streaking on its whiter underparts; its legs have a reddish hue. The call is a squeaky sip.<p>Measurements:
Taxonomy
The scientific name is from Latin. Anthus is the name for a small bird of grasslands, and the specific rubescens means "reddish", fromruber, "ruddy".<p>Four subspecies are currently recognized belonging to two main groups. Morphological and DNA sequence differences between them are rather pronounced and they might be considered distinct species pending further research:<p>This species is closely related to European rock pipit (A. petrosus) and water pipit (A. spinoletta), all three forms having previously been considered conspecific. They can be differentiated by their vocalizations and some visual cues, but rock and buff-bellied pipit are not found sympatrically except as vagrant individuals, and the ranges of buff-bellied and water pipits overlap only in a small area in Central Asia.
- Scientific name
- Anthus rubescens
- Authority
- (Tunstall, 1771)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
- Genus
- Anthus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- NA, PAL : Canada, Alaska and ne Asia
- Non-breeding range
- s USA, MA, OR
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Both subspecies of the buff-bellied pipit are migratory. The buff-bellied pipit winters on the Pacific coast of North America, and on the Atlantic coast from the southern North America to Central America. At least regarding the buff-bellied pipit, its wintering range seems to have expanded northwards in the 20th century and the birds seem to spend less time in winter quarters: in northern Ohio, for example, the species was recorded as "not common" during migration in May and September/October in the 1900s (decade), but today it is considered a "widespread migrant" in that region, found between March and May and from late September to November, with many birds actually wintering this far north. Asian birds winter mainly from Pakistan east to and Southeast Asia, with occasional birds found as far north as Yunnan and some in Japan apparently being all-year residents or migrating but a little. The American and Asian subspecies are rare vagrants to Western and Eastern Europe, respectively.<p>Like its relatives, this species is insectivorous. The breeding habitat of buff-bellied pipit is tundra, but outside the breeding season it is found in open lightly vegetated areas, similar to those favoured by the water pipit (A. spinoletta).
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Arabian Grosbeak
Rhynchostruthus percivali
Handsome chunky gray-brown finch with a massive dark bill. Brown hood, white ear-patches, and brightly contrasting golden stripes in the dark wings and tail make this an easily recognizable species. Female has a less well-defined hood than the male, and less yellow in the tail. Juvenile is buffier (including ear-patches) and more streaky. An uncommon resident of woodland, dry scrubby rocky terrain, slopes and river beds, restricted to the southern Arabian Peninsula. Typically forages singly, in pairs, or in groups of up to 30, either on the ground, or in trees where they occasionally dangle by their feet like parrots. Song is a pleasant rolling series of sweet notes, with an almost thrush-like quality. Call a quick whip-like “weet.”
Rufous-crowned Bee-eater
Merops americanus
A medium-sized, long-tailed bee-eater of open areas. Pale green below with deep green wings; pale blue above and below the base of the tail and below the black mask on the face. Tail turquoise, with extended central tail feathers. Similar in shape and size to Blue-tailed Bee-eater, but Rufous-crowned has the obvious rufous crown and back and lacks the rufous band across the lower throat. Voice is a double-noted “killit,” repeated regularly.
Elliot's Pheasant
Syrmaticus ellioti
Pale and stocky-looking pheasant of hill forests with dense undergrowth; generally scarce due to poaching throughout its range. Male is unmistakable: mostly brown above with a white belly, silvery head, bright red face, and a long pale gray tail with thick russet bands. Female is smaller and shorter-tailed with a faded version of the male’s patterning. Can be quite tame in areas where are protected and fed by rural communities.
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