Berthelot's Pipit

• It is endemic to the Canaries and Madeira: it lives nowhere else in the world.
• Its Spanish name refers to its habit of moving along tracks and paths, where it is very easy to see despite its unobtrusive plumage.
• It was described in 1862 by the German naturalist Carl Bolle, who dedicated it to Sabin Berthelot, the French naturalist settled on Tenerife and co-author of the Histoire Naturelle des Îles Canaries.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat & environment

Open country, from sea level to over 2,000 m, in every habitat except dense woodland and wetlands. In the eastern Canaries it occupies semi-desert areas of volcanic rock with sparse vegetation and other open ground such as tracks and paths; in the western islands, mountainous areas and rocky slopes. On Madeira it is found mainly in the high sierras, and also on cliffs and in fields near the sea

Birth weight

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Size at birth

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Sexual maturity

1 year

Gestation / incubation

13-14 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

3-5 eggs, in a nest placed on the ground

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List 2016 (e.T22718508A88185452); Informe Art. 12 de la Directiva Aves (Agencia Europea de Medio Ambiente); European Red List of Birds 2015; Palomino y Carrascal 2012; Bolle 1862, Journal für Ornithologie 10; Bernis et al. (nombres castellanos, Ardeola)

Best time: All year round: it is resident in both archipelagos