Australasian Pipit
Richard's Pipit
Click to enlarge image
creative commons
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Anthus
- Species
- novaeseelandiae
- Family
- Motacillidae
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Class
- Aves
-
- Size Range
- Up to 18 cm
Australasian Pipit
Image: 1026273© Australian Museum
Well-camouflaged, brown, ground-dweller with pale pink/grey bill and feet.
Identification
Well-camouflaged, brown ground-dwelling bird, with darker brown streaks above and pale creamy white stripes on the eyebrows and below the cheeks. Underparts are creamy white, spotted and streaked dark on the breast. Wings and tail are dark brown, with the outermost tail feathers white. Bill and feet are pale pink-grey.
Habitat
Open country, in a range of habitat types from saltmarshes to dry shrublands and open woodland clearings.
Distribution
Across Australia
Feeding and diet
Diet consists of insects and their larvae, as well as seeds. It forages in a jerky, darting motion, stopping to perch on low stones or shrubs, wagging its tail up and down.
Breeding behaviours
Breeding pairs are formed after an elaborate courtship ritual, with males making swooping dives from a height, accompanied by a sweet trilling song. The nest is a depression in the ground, sometimes sheltered by a grass tussock, stone or piece of wood, and lined with grasses and hairs. The female incubates the eggs and feeds the young.
