The American pipit (Anthus rubescens), formerly known as the buff-bellied pipit, is a small songbird native to North America. It was first described by Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771 Ornithologia Britannica.

  • Length: 16 cm
  • Weight: 22 g
  • Wingspan: 24 cm

Taxonomy

The scientific name is from Latin. Anthus is the name for a small bird of grasslands, and the specific rubescens means "reddish", from

ruber, "ruddy".

Three subspecies are currently recognized:

  • A. r. rubescens - <small>(Tunstall, 1771)</small>, – breeds in northern Canada east to Greenland and northeast United States, wintering in Central America
  • A. r. pacificus - <small>(Todd, 1935)</small> Breeds in Pacific Cordillera from Alaska to Oregon, wintering in western Mexico. Birds breeding in south Alaska have sometimes been recognized as a distinct subspecies A. r. geophilus.
  • A. r. alticola - <small>(Todd, 1935)</small> Breeds in the Rocky Mountains from southern British Columbia to California, wintering in Mexico

This species is closely related to European rock pipit (A. petrosus) and water pipit (A. spinoletta), all three forms having previously been considered conspecific. They can be differentiated by their vocalizations and some visual cues, but rock and American pipit are not found sympatrically except as vagrant individuals. The breeding habitat of American pipit is tundra, but outside the breeding season it is found in open lightly vegetated areas, similar to those favoured by the water pipit (A. spinoletta).

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  • American pipit – Anthus rubescens – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
  • American pipit Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Further reading

Book

  • Verbeek, N. A. M. and P. Hendricks. 1994. American Pipit (Anthus rubescens). In The Birds of North America, No. 95 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists' Union.

Thesis

  • Hendricks DP. Ph.D. (1993). Clutch- and egg-size variation of American pipits in alpine environments. Washington State University, United States – Washington.

Articles

  • Bennike O. (1990). Observations of Geese and Other Birds in West Greenland Arctic Ocean 1989 and 1990. Dansk Ornitologisk Forenings Tidsskrift. vol 84, no 3-4. pp.&nbsp;145–150.
  • Best JR & Higgs WJ. (1990). Bird Population Status Changes in Thule District North Greenland Arctic Ocean. Dansk Ornitologisk Forenings Tidsskrift. vol 84, no 3-4. pp.&nbsp;159–160.
  • Brichetti P & Massa B. (1987). Addenda and Corrigenda to the Check-List of Italian Birds. Rivista Italiana di Ornitologia. vol 57, no 3-4. pp.&nbsp;157–160.
  • Duckworth JW. (2006). Records of some bird species hitherto rarely found in DPR Korea. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. vol 126, no 4. pp.&nbsp;252–290.
  • Forrester RW. (1996). Amendments to the Scottish list. Scottish Birds. vol 18, no 3. pp.&nbsp;129–131.
  • Hendricks P. (1991). Repeatability of Size and Shape of American Pipit Eggs. Canadian Journal of Zoology. vol 69, no 10. pp.&nbsp;2624–2628.
  • Hendricks P. (1991). Site Fidelity and Renesting of Female American Pipits. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol 62, no 3. pp.&nbsp;338–342.
  • Hendricks P. (1997). Geographical trends in clutch size: A range-wide relationship with laying date in American pipits. Auk. vol 114, no 4. pp.&nbsp;773–778.
  • Hendricks P. (2003). Spring snow conditions, laying date, and clutch size in an alpine population of American Pipits. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol 74, no 4. pp.&nbsp;423–429.
  • Hendricks P & Norment CJ. (1992). Effects of Severe Snowstorm on Subalpine and Alpine Populations of Nesting American Pipits. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol 63, no 3. pp.&nbsp;331–338.
  • Hendricks P & Norment CJ. (1994). Hatchability of American pipit eggs in the Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming. Wilson Bulletin. vol 106, no 2. pp.&nbsp;392–399.
  • Kennedy PL, Stahlecker DW & Fair JM. (1995). Organochlorine concentrations in potential avian prey of breeding peregrine falcons in North-Central New Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist. vol 40, no 1. pp.&nbsp;94–100.
  • Knox A. (1988). TAXONOMY OF THE ROCK WATER PIPIT SUPERSPECIES ANTHUS-PETROSUS, ANTHUS-SPINOLETTA AND ANTHUS-RUBESCENS. British Birds. vol 81, no 5. pp.&nbsp;206–211.
  • Koblik EA & Mikhailov KE. (1994). On birds of upper belts of the mountains of Khorsko-Bikinsky watershed (middle Sikhote-Alin). Byulleten' Moskovskogo Obshchestva Ispytatelei Prirody Otdel Biologicheskii. vol 99, no 6. pp.&nbsp;47–54.
  • Mikhailov KE. (1997). The regularities of the distribution of birds along vertical and habitual scale in the alpine-subalpine zone of the central Sikhote-Alin Range. Byulleten' Moskovskogo Obshchestva Ispytatelei Prirody Otdel Biologicheskii. vol 102, no 6. pp.&nbsp;20–27.
  • Norment CJ & Green K. (2004). Breeding ecology of Richard's Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) in the Snowy Mountains. Emu. vol 104, no 4. pp.&nbsp;327–336.
  • Richardson TW, Pyle P, Burnett R & Capitolo P. (2003). The occurrence and seasonal distribution of migratory birds on Southeast Farallon Island, 1968–1999. Western Birds. vol 34, no 2. pp.&nbsp;58–96.
  • Taylor DM. (1994). Seasonal status of the American pipit in Idaho. Western Birds. vol 25, no 1. pp.&nbsp;43–49.
  • Verbeek NAM. (1995). The use of grit in pipits, especially the American Pipit. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol 65, no 4. pp.&nbsp;498–503.
  • Wilson S & Martin K. (2005). Songbird use of high-elevation habitat during the fall post-breeding and migratory periods. Ecoscience. vol 12, no 4. pp.&nbsp;561–568.

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