European Rock Pipit

Anthus petrosus - Pipit maritime

Systematics

Order
:
Passeriformes
Family
:
Motacillidés
Genus
:
Anthus
Species
:
petrosus

Descriptor

Montagu, 1798

Biometrics

Size
: 17 cm
Wingspan
: 23 à 28 cm.
Weight
: 21 à 30 g

Longevity

9 years

Geographic range

Distribution

Identification

The plumage of the European Rock Pipit is remarkably mimetic on the seaweed, the predominant vegetation on the bird's biotope: Its brown colors are tinged with olive green, on its back and wings as well as on the dense streaks of its breast. Its beige is less pale than in other pipits, including the Meadow Pipit, to which the European Rock Pipit was for a long time considered as a subspecies. The well-visible eye ring, as well as the light areas of the supercilium, the outer rectrices, and the alar bars are common features with the Meadow Pipit. However, these areas are lighter in the latter in winter, the only period during which the two species can be found together on the coast.

Subspecific information 2 subspecies

Anthus petrosus petrosus (British Isles and w France)
Anthus petrosus littoralis (Scandinavia to nw Russia)

Foreign names

Pipit maritime,
Bisbita costero,
petinha-marítima,
Strandpieper,
parti pityer,
Oeverpieper,
Spioncello marino,
skärpiplärka,
Skjærpiplerke,
ľabtuška skalná,
linduška skalní,
Skærpiber,
luotokirvinen,
grasset de costa,
Strandtittlingur,
świergotek nadmorski,
akmeņu čipste,
obalna vriskarica,
Береговой конёк,
ニシヨーロッパタヒバリ,
石鹨,
岩鷚,

Voice song and cries

play
pause

The call of the European Rock Pipit is close to that of its cousins: a less often repeated metallic psiit than that of the Meadow Pipit at take-off. Like the latter, the song of the European Rock Pipit is emitted during the slow descent phase parachuting of the nuptial flight.

Habitat

As its name implies, the European Rock Pipit lives exclusively on the coast, usually on rocks or close to them, as well as on the wrack of beaches. It occasionally ventures on mud, sand or short grass. It can also be observed near the pools of ports or jetties.

Behaviour character trait

The European Rock Pipit is most often observed alone or in pairs while patrolling its habitat in search of its prey.

Dietfeeding habits

The European Rock Pipit has specialized in preying upon small invertebrates of the coastline: crustaceans, insects, and mollusks.

Reproduction nesting

The European Rock Pipit builds a cup of vegetation (grass, algae...) filled with fine materials, usually in a rock hollow, under a slope or a tuft of grass in the coast meadow. Generally the female lays 4-5 eggs there, incubated for two weeks. The flight of the young is triggered after two more weeks.

Geographic range

The European Rock Pipit can be seen from the coasts of North Africa to the far north of Scandinavia. The most southerly range (up North of Aquitaine) is only used for wintering while the Northernmost region (Scandinavia) is used only for breeding. Breton and Vendéen coasts are home to both nesting European Rock Pipits and wintering ones. The species is only present in the Mediterranean Sea in the Gulf of Lion.