tree pipit
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Tree pipit - Jamnagar 2021-10-16.jpg
| image_caption = At Jamnagar, during wintering
| image2 = Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) (W1CDR0001425 BD8).ogg
| image2_caption = Song, recorded Devon, England
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Anthus
| species = trivialis
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = AnthusTrivialisIUCNver2018 2.png
| range_map_caption = Range of A. trivialis{{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FFFF|Passage|outline=gray}}
| synonyms = * Alauda trivialis {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}}
}}
The tree pipit (Anthus trivialis) is a small passerine bird that breeds throughout most of Europe and the Palearctic as far east as the East Siberian Mountains. It is a long-distance migrant, migrating in winter to Africa and southern Asia. The scientific name is from Latin: anthus is the name of a small bird of grasslands, and the specific trivialis means "common".
The breeding habitat is open woodland and scrub. The nest is placed on the ground and usually 4–6 eggs are laid. This species is insectivorous like its relatives, but will also eat seeds.
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.{{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 | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727073 }} The specific epithet trivialis is Latin meaning "common" or "ordinary" from Latin trivium meaning "public street".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=391 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n391/mode/1up }} The tree pipit is now placed in the genus Anthus that was introduced in 1805 by the 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 | volume=2 | 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=9 June 2021 }}
Two subspecies are recognised:
- A. t. trivialis (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeds across Europe to southwest Siberia, north Iran and Turkey, east Kazakhstan, southcentral Siberia, Mongolia and northwest China; winters in India and Africa. Includes proposed subspecies sibiricus.
- A. t. haringtoni Witherby, 1917 – breeds in northwest Himalayas; winters in central India
Description
This is a small pipit that resembles the meadow pipit. It is an undistinguished looking species, with brown stripes above and with black markings on white underparts and buff breast below. It can be differentiated from the slightly smaller meadow pipit by its heavier bill and greater contrast between its buff breast and white belly. Tree pipits are more likely to perch in trees.
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.
Life cycle
- mid-September to mid-April: lives in sub Saharan Africa
- mid April to beginning of May: migrates and arrives in countries such as the United Kingdom
- beginning of May to August: breeding season, two broods
- August to mid September: flies back to Saharan Africas
Distribution and habitat
The tree pipit breeds in habitats with a wooded component, including lowland heath and coppice. It is most common in open woodland bordering on moorland or in open structured oak woodland – hence the need for heavy thinning to create a gappy structure. It prefers medium-sized trees with a low canopy, where there is low-growing scrub and brambles less than 2 metres high, so that horizontal visibility is relatively good. It likes a mosaic of grass and bracken, but not heavily grazed short turf, so light to moderate grazing is preferred.{{ cite book | last=Tyler | first=Stephanie J. | year=2004 | chapter=Family Motacillidae (Pipits and Wagtails) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Christie | editor3-first=D.A. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=9: Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-87334-69-6 | pages=686–786 [765] ]| chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0009unse/page/765/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}
Behaviour
=Breeding=
File:Tree Pipit nest and eggs.jpg
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).
=Feeding=
Tree pipits mainly eat invertebrates, typically insects, but will also eat some plant material. They mostly forage on the ground.
Gallery
File:Side view of Tree Pipit.jpg|At Rajkot
File:Oriental Tree Pipit.jpg|In India
File:Anthus trivialis MWNH 1577.JPG|Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
File:Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)-1.jpg|In flight
File:Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)at Sindhrot near Vadodara, Gujrat Pix 243.jpg|In Gujarat, India
File:Baumpieper (Anthus trivialis), Kappertzvenn bei Mürringen, Ostbelgien (3939066668).jpg|In Belgium
File:Tree Pipit Grönvold.jpg|Historical illustration from 1907–1908 by Henrik Grönvold
File:TreePipit DSCN2295.jpg|Tree pipit wintering in Anamalai Hills, India
Cuculus canorus canorus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.150.18.jpg|Cuculus canorus canorus in a clutch of Anthus trivialis - MHNT
Anthus trivialis trivialis MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.204.26.jpg|Anthus trivialis trivialis - MHNT
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Anthus trivialis}}
{{Wikispecies|Anthus trivialis}}
- [http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/312_TreePipitAtrivialis.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 1.7 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
- [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Anthus_trivialis/Anthus_trivialis.htm Feathers of Tree pipit (Anthus trivialis)]
- {{Avibase|name=Anthus trivialis}}
- {{Field guide birds of the world|Anthus trivialis}}
- Tree pipit - [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/722.pdf Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds].
{{Taxonbar|from=Q143313}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Wintering birds of Africa
Category:Wintering birds of South Asia
Category:Birds described in 1758