Beak of the Week – American Pipit

American Pipits are small, sparrow-sized birds with long legs and long tails, giving them a lanky appearance. They are a pale brown-gray color above and white below with brown streaks. They can be easily identified in flight by their distinctive “pi-pit!” calls. To attract females and advertise their territories, males perform flight displays during which they fly over 100 feet into the air, then descend in a spiral pattern while singing!

American Pipits breed in tundra and alpine habitats across North America and Siberia, and migrate southward or to lower elevations during the winter. During the winter, they are found in a variety of open habitats, including agricultural fields, mudflats, and more, where they can be found walking on the ground in search of seeds and invertebrates. Climate change currently threatens the alpine habitats that American Pipits depend on; as temperatures increase, the maximum elevation at which trees can grow will increase, thus decreasing the amount of open alpine habitat for pipits and other species.

The related Sprague’s Pipit looks very similar to American Pipits, but American Pipits can be distinguished by their unmarked backs and habit of bobbing their tails (Sprague’s Pipits have streaked or scaled backs and don’t bob their tails).

In Texas, American Pipits can be found in various open spaces, including the fields at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge and the mudflats at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary!