Richard's pipit
| Richard's pipit | |
|---|---|
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| In Thailand | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Motacillidae |
| Genus: | Anthus |
| Species: | A. richardi |
| Binomial name | |
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Anthus richardi Vieillot, 1818 |
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Richard's pipit (Anthus richardi) is a medium-sized passerine bird which breeds in open grasslands in northern Asia. It is a long-distance migrant moving to open lowlands in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is a rare but regular vagrant to western Europe.
The genus name Anthus is the Latin name for a small bird of grasslands. The English name and richardi are for the French naturalist Monsieur Richard of Lunéville.
It belongs to the pipit genus Anthus in the family Motacillidae. It was formerly lumped together with the Australasian, African, mountain and paddyfield pipits in a single species: Richard's pipit, Anthus novaeseelandiae. These pipits are now commonly considered to be separate species although the African and paddyfield pipits are sometimes treated as part of A. richardi.
This is a large pipit, 17–20 cm in length, with a weight of 25–36 g and a wingspan of 29 to 33 cm. It is a slender bird which often stands very upright. It has long yellow-brown legs, a long tail with white outer-feathers and a long dark bill with a yellowish base to the lower mandible. The hindclaw is long and fairly straight. It is an undistinguished-looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below. There are dark streaks on the upperparts and breast while the belly and flanks are plain. The face is strongly marked with pale lores and supercilium and dark eyestripe, moustachial stripe and malar stripe. There are two wingbars formed by pale tips to the wing-coverts.
There is some variation between the different subspecies. A. r. sinensis is slightly smaller than the nominate race with less streaking above. A. r. centralasiae is larger with more sand-coloured upperparts. A. r. dauricus has more streaking above.
Its flight is strong and undulating, and it gives a characteristic explosive "shreep" call, somewhat similar to the chirp of a house sparrow. The song is a repeated series of monotonous buzzy notes given in an undulating song-flight.
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Wikipedia