Pipit

The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, Anthus, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Along with the wagtails and longclaws, the pipits make up the family Motacillidae. The genus is widespread, occurring across most of the world, except the driest deserts, rainforest and the mainland of Antarctica.

They are slender, often drab, ground-feeding insectivores of open country. Like their relatives in the family, the pipits are monogamous and territorial. Pipits are ground nesters, laying up to six speckled eggs.

The pipits are generally highly conservative in appearance. They are generally 16–21 cm (6.3–8.3 in) in length, although the smallest species, the short-tailed pipit, is only 11.5–12.5 cm (4.5–4.9 in). In weight, they range from 15–40 g (0.53–1.41 oz). The largest species may be the alpine pipit. Like all members of the family, they are slender, short-necked birds with long tails and long, slender legs with elongated (in some cases very elongated) hind claws. The length of the hind claw varies with the habits of the species, more arboreal species have shorter, more curved hind claws than the more terrestrial species. The bills are generally long, slender, and pointed. In both size and plumage, few differences are seen between the sexes. One unusual feature of the pipits, which they share in common with the rest of their family, but not the rest of the passerines, is that the tertials on the wing entirely cover the primary flight feathers. This is thought to be a feature to protect the primaries, which are important to flight, from the sun, which causes the feathers to fade and become brittle if not protected.

The plumage of the pipits is generally drab and brown, buff, or faded white. The undersides are usually darker than the top, and a variable amount of barring and streaking is seen on the back, wings, and breast. The drab, mottled-brown colours provide some camouflage against the soil and stones on which they are generally found. A few species have slightly more colourful breeding plumages; for example, the rosy pipit has greenish edges on the wing feathers. The yellow-breasted pipit, if it is retained in this genus, is quite atypical in having bright yellow plumage on the throat, breast, and belly.

Pipits are morphologically similar to some larks, but the two groups are quite distantly related; the lark family Alaudidae is part of the superfamily Sylvioidea, rather than the Passeroidea, where the pipits are placed. Morphological differences between the two groups of birds are, in fact, plentiful. Anatomical differences include a differently structured syrinx, differences in the structure of the tarsi, and in many lark genera, the presence of a distinct 10th primary, a fourth tertial, and feathers at least partially covering the nostrils. Bill shape differs between larks and pipits, with larks having an evenly sloping culmen, whereas most pipits have a small hump over the nostrils, and lark bills are generally heavier, reflecting differences in diet. Differences occur in the feather tracts of the two groups; while many larks have crests, no pipit does; pipits have only one prominent row of scapulars, whereas larks have two.