meadow pipit

The meadow pipit was formally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Alauda pratensis.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=166 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727073 }} The type locality is Sweden.{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=159 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480834 }} The meadow pipit is now the type species of the genus Anthus that was introduced in 1805 by German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein.{{ cite book | last=Bechstein | first=Johann Matthäus | author-link=Johann Matthäus Bechstein | date=1805 | title=Gemeinnützige Naturgeschichte Deutschlands nach allen drey Reichen | edition=2nd | language=German | location=Leipzig | publisher=Bey Siegfried Lebrecht Crusiu | pages=247, 302 Note | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31013292 }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2021 | title=Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/weavers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=3 June 2021 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=144 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480819 }} The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognised.

The generic name Anthus is the Latin name for a small grassland bird mentioned by Pliny the Elder, and the specific name pratensis means "of a meadow ", from pratum, "meadow".{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n49 49], 315 }} The name "pipit", first documented by Thomas Pennant in 1768, is onomatopoeic, from the call note of this species.Lockwood, W. B. (1984). The Oxford Book of British Bird Names. Oxford University Press {{ISBN|0-19-214155-4}}. Old folk names, no longer used, include "chit lark", "peet lark", "tit lark", and "titling"; these refer to its small size and superficial resemblance to a lark.

This is a widespread and often abundant small pipit, measuring {{convert|14.5–15|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} in length and weighing {{convert|15–22|g|abbr=on}}. It is an indistinguishable-looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and buff below, with darker barring on most of its plumage; the tail is brown, with narrow white lateral edges. It has a thin bill and pale pinkish yellow legs; the rear claw is conspicuously long, longer than the rest of the rear toes. The call is a faint tsi-tsi. The simple repetitive song is given in a short song flight. Birds breeding in Ireland and western Scotland are slightly darker coloured than those in other areas, and are often distinguished as the subspecies A. p. whistleri, though it intergrades clinally with nominate A. p. pratensis found in the rest of the species' range.

It is similar to the red-throated pipit A. cervinus, which is more heavily barred and (in summer only) has an orange-red throat, and to the tree pipit A. trivialis, which is slightly larger, less heavily streaked, and has stronger facial markings and a shorter rear claw. The song of the meadow pipit accelerates towards the end, while that of the tree pipit slows down.

It is primarily a species of open habitats, either uncultivated or low-intensity agriculture, such as grassland, moorland, and heathland, but also occurs in small numbers on arable land. In winter, it also uses saltmarshes and sometimes open woodland. It is a fairly terrestrial pipit, always feeding on the ground, but using elevated perches such as shrubs, fence lines, or electric wires as vantage points to watch for predators.Hagemeijer, W. J. M., & Blair, M. J., eds. (1997). The EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds. Poyser, London {{ISBN|0-85661-091-7}}.

The total population is estimated at 12 million pairs. It is an abundant species in the north of its range, and generally the most common breeding bird of the British uplands, but is less common further south. Breeding densities range from {{convert|80|/km2|/sqmi|disp=preunit| pairs|abbr=on }} in northern Scandinavia, to {{convert|5–20|/km2|/sqmi|disp=preunit| pairs|abbr=on}} in grassland in the south of the breeding range, and just {{convert|1|/km2|/sqmi|abbr=on}} in arable farmland. A few isolated breeding pairs are recorded from south of the main range, in the mountains of Spain, Italy, and the northern Balkans. There has been a general decline in the population over the past 17 years, most notablly in French farmland, where the species has declined by 68%.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/science/farmland-birds-decline.html|title=Farmland Birds in France Are in Steep Decline|last=Gorman|first=James|date=2018-04-11|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-04-12|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

The nest is on the ground conclein dense vegetation, with two to seven (usually often three to five) eggs; the eggs hatch after 11–15 days, with the chicks fledging 10–14 days after hatching. Two broods are usually raised each year. This species is one of the most important nest hosts of the cuckoo, and it is also an important prey species for merlins and hen harriers.

Its diet mainly consists of insects and other invertebrates, mostly small items less than {{convert|5|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} long. It also eats the seeds of grasses, sedges, rushes, and heather, and crowberry berries, especially in winter.

Image:Anthus pratensis.jpg|left|A meadow pipit perched on a fishing net

File:Anthus pratensis nest 2.jpg|left|Nest with eggs

File:Anthus pratensis MWNH 1590.JPG|Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden

File:Cuculus canorus canorus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.150.16.jpg|Cuculus canorus canorus in a clutch of Anthus pratensis - MHNT

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Anthus pratensis}}

• [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/meadow-pipit-anthus-pratensis Meadow pipit videos, photos & sounds] on the Internet Bird Collection
• [http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/313_MeadowPipitApratensis.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 1.8 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]

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meadow pipit

Category:Birds of Europe

Category:Birds of North Africa

meadow pipit

meadow pipit

Category:Holarctic birds