African Pipit

Overview

The African pipit, also known as the grassveld or grassland pipit, is a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae. It was formerly grouped with several other species as Richard's pipit but is now often treated as a distinct species.

Identification

• Size and Build: 15 to 17 cm long, slender body with an erect stance.
• Plumage: Buffy-brown upperparts with darker streaks; white or pale buff underparts with a streaked breast.
• Head and Face: Boldly patterned with a pale supercilium and a dark malar stripe; outer tail feathers are white.
• Bill and Legs: Slender dark bill with a yellowish base to the lower mandible; long, pinkish legs.
• Song: A repeated series of twittering notes, delivered during an undulating flight or from a low perch.

Habitat

Found in grasslands and fields across Southern, Central, and East Africa, south-east of a line from Angola through the DRCongo to Sudan. It also occurs in south-western Arabia, with an isolated population in the highlands of Cameroon.

Did you know?

The bird is sometimes referred to as the Cameroon pipit, an isolated population that is occasionally considered a separate species, though it is slightly larger and darker with buff underparts.