Birds · Passeriformes · Motacillidae

Water Pipit

Anthus spinoletta

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

A pipit of the middle and high mountains, somewhat larger than the meadow pipit, from which it is told by its dark legs, a white supercilium and chestnut rather than greenish plumage. In summer the back is pale brown with white streaks and the belly white with a faint yellowish pink tinge, visible only at very close range. A grey band runs from the eye to the crown. In winter the plumage darkens and the whitish bands stand out more.

Weight

36 g on average

Diet

Insectivore

Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Estimated population

391,000-705,000 breeding pairs in the EU-27, over a breeding area of 319,000 km²

Insectivore Diurnal In pairs Bird

46countries 4parks6same family

Fun facts

It makes a very marked altitudinal migration: it breeds high in the mountains and comes down in winter to rice fields and marshes, sometimes to sea level.
A 2013 study reconstructed its movements from a hundred years of ringing and recovery data.
Its plumage changes markedly between summer and winter, which complicates identification in the field outside the breeding season.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: A fragmented breeding distribution across the mountain areas of central and southern Europe. It breeds on alpine pastures and high meadows with short grass and scattered rocks, shrubs or trees, almost always with damp patches and often on slopes. In winter it descends to coastal saltpans, lagoons, marshes, grassy lake and river margins, sewage works, watercress beds, rice fields and other irrigated crops
Sexual maturity: 11.9 months
Gestation / incubation: 14 days
Litter / clutch size: 4

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; Informe Art. 12 de la Directiva Aves (Agencia Europea de Medio Ambiente); European Red List of Birds 2015; Animalia.bio; Barišić 2013 (análisis de cien años de anillamiento); Linnaeus 1758