Water Pipit

The water pipit is 15–17 centimetres (5.9–6.7 in) long and weighs 18.7–23 grams (0.66–0.81 oz). The adult of the nominate race in spring plumage has greyish-brown upperparts, weakly streaked with darker brown, and pale pink-buff underparts fading to whitish on the lower belly. There may be some faint streaking on the breast and flanks. The head is grey with a broad white supercilium. The outer tail feathers are white, and the legs, bill and iris are dark brown or blackish. In non-breeding plumage, the head is grey-brown and the supercilium is less distinct. The upperparts are more streaked, and the underparts are white, marked lightly with brown on the breast and flanks. The sexes are similar although the female has, on average, a greyer head. Young birds resembles the non-breeding adult, but are browner and more streaked above with prominent streaking on the underparts. A. s. coutellii is smaller than the nominate subspecies and the white of the outer tail feathers has a hint of grey. It is paler and more heavily streaked above, and in summer plumage the underparts' colour covers a larger area and has a rusty tint. A. s. blakistoni is large, pale and less strongly streaked.

The water pipit has a complete moult between July and September, although there is considerable individual variation in timing. …

The breeding range of the water pipit is the mountains of southern Europe and Asia from Spain to central China, along with the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica. The water pipit is predominantly a mountain species in the breeding season, found in alpine pasture and high meadows with short grass and some bushes or rocks. It is typically found close to wetter areas and often on slopes. It breeds between 615–3,200 metres (2,020–10,500 ft) altitude, mostly 1,400–2,500 metres (4,600–8,200 ft). It migrates relatively short distances in autumn to lower ground, typically wintering on coastal wetlands, marshes, rice fields and similar habitats. Although most birds move to lowlands, some may remain at up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). Nominate A. s. spinoletta winters mainly in western and southern Europe and in northwestern Africa; in western Europe some birds show fidelity to the same wintering site, returning each year. Birds in Spain appear to move only lower down the mountains in which they breed. A.s. coutellii winters at lower altitudes near its breeding areas and also in the Arabian Peninsula and northeast Africa. A.s. blakistoni winters in Pakistan, northwest India and southern China. Water pipits leave their breeding sites from mid-September, although the eastern subspecies may start moving south before then. …

The water pipit is a much less approachable bird as compared to the European rock pipit. It is warier than its relative and if approached it flies some distance before landing again, whereas the rock pipit typically travels only a short distance, close to the ground, before it alights.

Breeding. The water pipit is mainly monogamous, although both sexes may deviate from this occasionally. The male has a display flight in which he climbs to 10–30 metres (33–98 ft), flies in an arc and glides back down, singing throughout. The female constructs a cup nest from grass and leaves which is lined with finer plant material and animal hairs. The nest is hidden in vegetation on the ground, sometimes in a hollow. The normal clutch is four to six eggs laid from the end of April to early July. Eggs are greyish white with darker grey or brownish speckles mainly at the wider end, and they measure 21 by 16 millimetres (0.83 in × 0.63 in) and weigh 2.7 grams (0.095 oz) of which 5% is shell. The eggs are incubated by the female for 14–15 days to hatching. Chicks are fed initially by the male, both parents sharing the duty after a few days when the female does not need to brood so often, and they fledge in a further 14–15 days. There may be two broods in a year. In a Swiss study of the nominate subspecies, 76% of eggs hatched, and 58% of chicks fledged. Birds of the race A. s. …