Meadow pipits are found across the UK but are most common in the west and north.

About. During the winter months, they are quite gregarious and will gather in small flocks, often seeming invisible among the vegetation.

BIF0140, 05/04/2011, Kyzyltan Lake, Kazakhstan, Patrick Franke, #ornithology #birdmigration #birdID #birdguide #birding #birdwatching #birdsound #westernpalearctic #europe #vismig #flightcalls #middleeast #northernafrica #workinprogress, https://birds-in-flight.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/BIF131_PFR00310_1-10_081024_meapip-pratensis-3-FC_d_gr-oie_REF-S.mp3, https://birds-in-flight.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/BIF139-1_PFR04379_1-10_101003_meapip-pratensis-FC_d_helgoland_REF-S.mp3, https://birds-in-flight.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/BIF140-1_PFR05117_1-10_110405_meapip-pratensis-1-FC_kz_kyzyltan-sea_REF-S.mp3. Throughout the UK, Meadow pipit numbers have been in serious decline since the mid-1970s. They are found in open country - upland moors to saltmarshes in summer, more agricultural land and marshes in winter. Share this page.

They will even come to suburban parks and playing fields.

When is it in flight, it shows white outer tail feathers, in the breeding season these are used as a fluttering 'parachute' to help…

UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.

Get out, get busy and get wild! BIF0141, 13/09/2013, Emden, Germany, Mathias Putze, Meadow Pipit Anthus p. pratensis

Tell me more. A small, brown, streaky bird, the meadow pipit is the most common songbird in upland areas. Insects - flies, beetles and moths - and spiders. BIF0139, 03/10/2010, Helgoland, Germany, Patrick Franke, Meadow Pipit Anthus p. pratensis, calls during migration

Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird, Help nature thrive as a corporate partner, Climate change effects on nature and wildlife.

BTO bird identification videos are supported by Natureguides. Following the floods this winter, watch how one area is using nature as a natural protector. We spend 90% of net income on conservation, public education and advocacy, The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International. Meadow pipits are a small, brown, streaky bird, and is one of the most common songbirds found in the upland areas. For a few seconds the pipit holds my course, undulating through the air like a dolphin off the prow of a boat.


Its distinctive high piping call is a very familiar sound. Meadow pipits are cast as the mugs of the bird world, the prosaic victims of that malevolent con artist, the cuckoo, which displaces pipit eggs for its own – or else as prey for more charismatic species like merlins or hen harriers, their eggs predated by foxes and weasels.

But go to the uplands and you’ll almost always be within earshot of a singing Meadow Pipit at this time of year. BIF0843, 14/03/2014, Havelland, Germany, Mathias Putze, Meadow Pipit Anthus p. pratensis – migrates singly or in small to medium rather dense flocks, Meadow Pipit Anthus p. pratensis As well as a free gift and magazines, you’ll get loads of ideas for activities to try at home. The reserve has seen more than thirty species of wading birds. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations. Change ). In flight it shows white outer tail feathers and in the breeding season it has a fluttering 'parachute' display flight. The right-hand pipit soon veers off in the direction of White Edge, but the other remains. Mostly inconspicuous, small streaky brown bird.

Meadow Pipit gives a simple accelerating series of tinkling notes as it rises in its display flight, succeeded by more musical notes and ending with a trill as it parachutes back down to the ground.

If you can’t get outside, why not bring the outside in by downloading our bird song radio app? Best of all, after a couple of hours in the saddle, my mind has wandered off and I'm left in the blithe state of non-thinking that is, it seems to me, the entire purpose of moderate exercise. In winter it moves south, to more lowland areas and becomes much commoner in the southern half of the UK. Nature is an adventure waiting to be had. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account.

Meadow pipits are found across the UK but are most common in the west and north.