Australian Pipit

About the Australian Pipit

The Australian pipit (Anthus australis) is a fairly small passerine bird of open country in Australia and New Guinea. It belongs to the pipit genus Anthus in the family Motacillidae. It is a slender bird, 16 to 19 cm long, and weighs about 40 grams. The plumage is pale brown above with dark streaks. The underparts are pale with streaks on the breast. There is a pale stripe over the eye and dark malar and moustachial stripes. The long tail has white outer-feathers and is often wagged up and down. The legs are long and pinkish-brown while the bill is slender and brownish.

It has a sparrow-like chirruping call and a drawn-out tswee call. The Australian pipit was formerly grouped with other pipits as Richard's pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae. This species was split into Richard's, African, Mountain, Paddyfield and Australasian pipits. Many authors further split the Australasian pipit into two species: Australian pipit (Anthus australis) in Australia and New Guinea and New Zealand pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) in New Zealand.

A number of subspecies are recognised: A. a. australis, A. n. bilbali & A. n. rogersi - mainland Australia A. a. bistriatus - Tasmania... Wikipedia →