Pechora Pipit

About the Pechora Pipit

The Pechora pipit (Anthus gustavi) is a small passerine bird which breeds in the East Palearctic tundra and densely vegetated areas near river banks ranges from the Pechora River to the Chukchi Peninsula. It also breeds in Kamchatka and the Commander Islands, and with a disjunct population much further south in northeastern China and southeastern Siberia. It is a long-distance migrant, moving in winter to Indonesia. Rarely in September and October, the Pechora pipit may be observed in western Europe. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863.

There are two subspecies: Anthus gustavi gustavi Swinhoe, 1863 — Arctic shrub tundra across northern Siberia Anthus gustavi menzbieri Shulpin, 1928 — Temperate southeastern Siberia, northeastern China, in the Ussuri and lower Amur river basins

The southern subspecies may be better treated as a separate species, as it differs markedly in ecology and also somewhat in morphology and song, but genetic analysis has yet to be carried out. A. gustavi is a small pipit, which somewhat resembles non-breeding red-throated pipit in plumage. It is heavily streaked brown above, with whitish mantle stripes, and... Wikipedia →