The meadow pipit (Anthus pratensis) is a small passerine bird that breeds throughout much of the Palearctic, from south-eastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; an isolated population also occurs in the Caucasus Mountains. It is migratory over most of its range, wintering in southern Europe, North Africa, and south-western Asia, but is resident year-round in western Europe, although even here many birds move to the coast or lowlands in winter.
Taxonomy
The meadow pipit was formally described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Alauda pratensis. The type locality is Sweden. The meadow pipit is now the type species of the genus Anthus that was introduced in 1805 by German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein. The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognised. The name "pipit", first documented by Thomas Pennant in 1768, is onomatopoeic, from the call note of this species. Old folk names, no longer used, include "chit lark", "peet lark", "tit lark", and "titling"; these refer to its small size and superficial resemblance to a lark.
The total population is estimated at 12 million pairs. It is an abundant species in the north of its range, and generally the most common breeding bird of the British uplands, but is less common further south. Breeding densities range from in northern Scandinavia, to in grassland in the south of the breeding range, and just in arable farmland.
Behaviour
Breeding
The nest is on the ground concealed in dense vegetation, with two to seven (usually often three to five) eggs; the eggs hatch after 11–15 days, with the chicks fledging 10–14 days after hatching. Two broods are usually raised each year. This species is one of the most important nest hosts of the cuckoo, and it is also an important prey species for merlins and hen harriers.