Anthus spinoletta

Geographic Range

Water pipits ( Anthus spinoletta ) are found in a wide geographical range of the Palearctic region. They are most prevalent in the northern hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa. Migration starts in early October, after these birds finish their molt in early September. A large dispersal of water pipits reach northern Italy and the Atlantic coast during migration. These birds frequently spend their winters in areas such as northern Africa and southern Asia.

• Biogeographic Regions
• palearctic palearctic
  • native native

• Other Geographic Terms
• holarctic holarctic

Habitat

Water pipits are found in the colder parts and higher mountains of the northern hemisphere. During the summer, they reside in mountain slopes and rocks above the tree line. During the winter, water pipits migrate and descend to wet meadows, watercress beds, and sheltered estuaries. No specific elevation ranges have been reported; however, they are typically found in the mountains and above the tree line, suggesting a higher elevational range.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• terrestrial terrestrial
• saltwater or marine saltwater or marine
• freshwater freshwater

• Terrestrial Biomes
• tundra tundra
• desert or dune desert or dune

• Aquatic Biomes
• coastal coastal

• Wetlands
• marsh marsh

• Other Habitat Features
• estuarine estuarine

Physical Description

Water pipits are small birds that range in size from 127 to 222 mm long, with a wingspan of 21 to 26 cm, and weigh between 19.5 to 24 grams. Water pipits do not have very distinguished characteristics. They have strong feet and relatively long toes. These birds are brown above and dark streaked buff below. They have dark legs, whiter outer tail feathers, and a long dark bill. Eurasian rock pipits and buff-bellied pipits were previously considered water pipit subspecies; however, they are now both recognized as their own unique species. Rock pipits are more closely related to water pipits than buff-bellied pipits. Although rock pipits are physically similar and inhabit the same general area as water pipits, they can be distinguished by their different songs and habitat types. Water pipits and buff-bellied pipits are generally not found in the same area, except for a small area in Central Asia.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike

Reproduction

Male and female water pipits are typically monogamous and maintain a life-long pair bond. Some cases of polyandry and polygyny exist, but occurrences are very rare. In order to find and attract mates, water pipits undergo molting, or shedding of their feathers in order to display distinctive breeding plumage during the summer. Another important aspect in finding and attracting a mate are vocal cues from singing. A male is considered more fit if he can sing for longer periods of time with higher frequencies and complexity, which is more attractive to females selecting a mate. A distinct song element, the ‘Snarr’, has been identified in water pipits as a rasping, or grating sound with a broad frequency band. It is quantified by the amount of Snarr and Snarr frequencies to obtain a Snarr score. When courting females, male water pipits with high Snarr scores mated more often than males with low Snarr scores. There is a positive correlation between male vocalization and reproductive success.

• Mating System
• monogamous monogamous

Water pipits start nesting in late May or early June. Females produce 2 clutches of 3 to 7 eggs per year. On average, incubation lasts for 15 days. The average mass of a hatchling is 2.7 grams. After the 15th nestling day, the young fledge. As the young become independent, pipits gather in flocks and move away from breeding grounds.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• oviparous oviparous

Female water pipits build nests on the ground, which are typically made of grass. While the females incubate the eggs, the males forage for food to provide the brooding female. While only the females brood the altricial young, both parents provide the nestlings with sustenance. More energy is conserved when the parents obtain slower moving insects for their young to eat. Water pipits likely fledge before they are ready to fly and continue to receive parental care for 14 to 18 days like other members of family Motacillidae .

• Parental Investment
• altricial altricial
• male parental care male parental care
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-hatching/birth
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
  • protecting

Lifespan/Longevity

The longest known lifespan of water pipits in the wild is approximately 8.8 years. While their average wild lifespan is not known, their close relatives have an average wild lifespan of 2 to 5 years. There is currently no information available regarding the lifespan of this species in captivity.

Behavior

Once water pipits become independent, they gather in flocks and migrate as a group away from breeding grounds; however, during the breeding season, they are more territorial, which helps them protect their young from predators. They are considered to be mainly terrestrial. Although their flight is strong, pipits usually walk or run on the ground. Members of genus Anthus exhibit a behavior known as 'anting', which involves rubbing insects on their feathers for either cleaning purposes or to reducing feather parasites, however, this behavior has not been directly studied in water pipits.

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• flies
• diurnal diurnal
• motile motile
• migratory migratory
• sedentary sedentary
• territorial territorial
• social social

Home Range

Water pipits actively defended a 40 by 40 meter area around their nests. However, they are not limited to a specific territory. The species frequently forages beyond their actively claimed areas.

Communication and Perception

Water pipits primarily communicate with others through sight and sound. Senses are developed and used to detect prey as well as to avoid predators. Potential mates communicate through song, which is critical for reproduction.

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• acoustic acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Water pipits are mainly insectivorous. They feed on flies , beetles , grasshoppers , and other insects . In addition, water pipits eat spiders and occasionally small mollusks or crustaceans , small seeds, and other plant material.

• Primary Diet
• carnivore carnivore
  • insectivore insectivore
  • molluscivore molluscivore
• herbivore herbivore
  • granivore granivore

• Animal Foods
• insects
• mollusks

• Plant Foods
• seeds, grains, and nuts

Predation

While there are no specific studies on the anti-predator adaptations of water pipits, their brown coloration corresponds to the soil color and ground vegetation, which allows water pipits to be camouflage with their environment, making it harder for predators to spot them. These birds are known to be preyed upon by prairie falcons and snakes from family Viperidae .

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic cryptic

Ecosystem Roles

As insectivores, water pipits influence the insect population in their habitats. Water pipits also host brood parasitic cuckoos . Brood parasitism occurs when cuckoos place their eggs into a host's nest and allow their host to care for their eggs. This allows cuckoos to reduce their energy expenditure at the expense of their host. Water pipits also host chewing lice .

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Water pipits are not generally recognized as having a positive economic importance for humans. Their insect consumption could potentially reduce the pest populations, which could be beneficial in lowering the amount of pests destroying crops or transmitting disease.

• Positive Impacts
• controls pest population

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

There are no known negative effects of water pipits on humans.

Conservation Status

According to the IUCN Red List, water pipits are classified as a species of least concern. Although overall, water pipits are not considered to be a species of great concern; their population is at risk in certain ranges. Their population has declined in Russia and the United Kingdom. In some areas, water pipit populations are at risk due to large herbivorous animals negatively affecting nesting success due to grazing and trampling. Climate changes can potentially pose a threat to water pipits as well. Slight rises in temperature cause snow to melt prematurely, which causes meadow pipits to encroach on water pipit territories. This leads to competition for the same resources, which affects water pipit survival.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Kimberly Cheng (author), The College of New Jersey, Matthew Wund (editor), The College of New Jersey, Leila Siciliano Martina (editor), Texas State University.

References

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