Hellmayr's Pipit

About the Hellmayr's Pipit

Hellmayr's pipit (Anthus hellmayri) is a species of bird in the family Motacillidae, the wagtails and pipits. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Hellmayr's pipit was described by Ernst Hartert in 1909 with its current binomial Anthus hellmayri. Hartert's specific epithet hellmayri honors Austrian ornithologist Carl Eduard Hellmayr; its English name came later.

Hellmayr's pipit has these three subspecies: A. h. hellmayri (Hartert, EJO, 1909) A. h. dabbenei (Hellmayr, 1921) A. h. brasilianus (Hellmayr, 1921) Some authors suggest that genetic differences among the subspecies are large enough that two full species may be present.

Hellmayr's pipit is about 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 in) long. Subspecies A. h. brasilianus weighs 16.5 to 20 g (0.58 to 0.71 oz) The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. h. hellmayri have a pale buff head with a paler area around the eye. Their upperparts are pale buff with bold blackish brown streaks. Their wings are dusky with whitish edges on the primaries and tertials and buff edges on the secondaries. Their wing coverts have buff edges that... Wikipedia →