Tree Pipit

Tree Pipits are streaky-brown in colour with pale underparts. Males and females are similar in colour.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Anthus trivialis
Family: 
Pipits and wagtails
Family Latin name: 
MOTACILLIDAE
Category: 
Birds

Species description

Species description

Tree Pipits are migrant breeders in Britain, visiting us in March from sub-Saharan Africa and staying until August to October. They are streaky-brown in colour with pale underparts. Males and females are similar in colour. They are about 15 centimetres from tip to tail, with a wingspan of 26 centimetres, slightly smaller than a Pied Wagtail. In Britain, there are perhaps over 100,000 pairs, and they have a RED conservation status.

Tree Pipits are more commonly seen in the north and west of Britain. It was therefore quite a thrill to see a party of four Tree Pipits in the Cemetery in late August 2021.

Tree Pipits and Meadow Pipits are very similar in appearance. They are best distinguished one from the other by their calls. Tree Pipits have an unmistakable song flight, rising up from their perch in a tree, then descending on stiff wings with a song that continues until they return to their perch once more. In spite of their name, Tree Pipits nest on the ground.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

Wagtails and pipits are small, slender birds. They forage in trees and on the ground for small insects, seeds, and berries in autumn.

Category information

The earliest feathered dinosaur fossils date from the early Cretaceous, but the ancestry of birds goes further back to Jurassic theropod dinosaurs, which shared a common ancestor with the crocodilians. Well known theropod groups include the tyrannosaurs, allosaurs, and other carnivores. Of surviving bird groups, the most ancient are the ratites (ostriches, rheas, tinamous, moas, kiwis, cassowaries, and emus), followed in evolutionary order by the waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and then the land fowl (chickens, turkeys, pheasants and their kin). Heene cemetery’s most ancient bird visitors are the woodpigeons. Strictly, therefore, we ought to refer to birds as dinosaurs, for they are direct descendants. The RSPB would be more accurately restyled as the RSPD. Where known, the conservation status of each bird is given as red, amber, or green, according to its survival potential based on 2016 populations and recent population trends.

Birds are warm-blooded, and have feathers, toothless, beaked jaws, and a strong, lightweight skeleton. They lay hard-shelled eggs. Their hearts have four chambers, and their metabolic rate is high. Although most are adapted for flight, many can also run, jump, swim and dive. Flightless birds retain vestigial wings. Brown, green, and grey are the commonest bird colours, for camouflage.

Protections