Tawny Pipit
Anthus campestris
Also known as: Tawnypipit
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
23 g
About This Species
A ground-dwelling, pipit of open, dry grassland, steppe and coastal dunes across southern Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa, most easily located by its bounding, undulating flight and thin song delivered from the ground or a low perch. It forages by walking rather than hopping, picking insects from bare or sparsely vegetated ground, and is most active around dawn and dusk. Spring and early summer, during the breeding season, offer the best chance of a singing male.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Nests are a simple scrape on open ground, which makes them extremely vulnerable to trampling, so stick to paths and avoid walking through likely breeding habitat during the spring and summer nesting period.
- Ground-nesting birds are protected under wildlife law in most of its European range, and disturbance at or near an active nest can be an offence.
- Viewing from a distance with binoculars is the safest approach for both the bird and any eggs or chicks.
LCAvesPasseriformesMotacillidae
Seasonal Activity
167,741 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 23 g
Photo
(c) cog2022, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.