Red-Throated Pipit
Anthus cervinus
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
21 g
About This Species
A slender, streaky pipit that breeds on Arctic tundra across northern Eurasia and winters in wetlands, rice fields and grassland from Africa to South and East Asia. Look for it walking briskly across open, damp ground with a characteristic tail-pumping motion, often in loose flocks on wintering grounds. Coastal wetlands and flooded fields during migration and winter offer the most reliable views, especially in early morning when birds are actively feeding.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Approach slowly across open ground and expect birds to flush at moderate range, since they favour exposed habitat with little cover.
- Protections vary widely across its enormous range, from strict nesting-season rules on Arctic breeding grounds to more limited protections in some wintering countries, so check local regulations.
- Avoid crowding feeding flocks on wintering grounds, as repeated flushing wastes energy birds need for migration.
LCAvesPasseriformesMotacillidae
Seasonal Activity
148,599 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
- 21 g
Photo
(c) Kelvin Joshua Che, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Kelvin Joshua Che
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.