Long-tailed pipit (Anthus longicaudatus)

Long-tailed pipit in grass
Long-tailed pipit in grass

Long-tailed pipit fact file

Long-tailed pipit description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyMotacillidae
GenusAnthus (1)

The long-tailed pipit was described to science as recently as 1996, and remains very poorly known (2). A rather indistinct bird, the long-tailed pipit has darkish grey-brown plumage on the upperparts, with pale edges to the feathers, and brownish to brownish-white underparts. The wing feathers are dark brown with pale edgings and the tail is also dark brown. A broad whitish stripe extends above the eye, like an eyebrow, while a dark stripe runs through each dark brown eye. The bill is a darkish horn colour, as are the legs (2).

Size
Length: 15 – 16 cm (2)
Weight
30.2 – 34 g (2)
Top

Long-tailed pipit biology

The long-tailed pipit has been observed in flocks of 10 to 40 individuals, often with the buffy pipit (Anthus vaalensis), Richard’s pipit (Anthus richardi) and the long-billed pipit (Anthus similis). The long-tailed pipit can be distinguished from these closely-related birds by its exaggerated tail-wagging and horizontal rather than upright posture (2).

Nothing is known about the breeding biology of the long-tailed pipit, although it is presumed to breed in Zimbabwe before migrating to South Africa for the winter. It forages in grass for food, but what this bird feeds on is not known (2).

Top

Long-tailed pipit range

The long-tailed pipit is known to occur in the Kimberley area of South Africa. It is thought to breed further north, on the Barotse floodplains in Zimbabwe (2) (3), but it has also been recorded from Zambia and Botswana (3).

Top

Long-tailed pipit habitat

The breeding habitat of the long-tailed pipit is not known, but in its non-breeding area in South Africa it occurs on short, dry grassland including urban parks and playing fields (2).

Top

Long-tailed pipit status

Classified as Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1).

IUCN Red List species status – Data Deficient

Top

Long-tailed pipit threats

It is not known whether this species is threatened, and if it is, to what extent, and thus the IUCN have classified it as Data Deficient (1).

Top

Long-tailed pipit conservation

Further research into this little-known bird is clearly needed. Surveys to clarify its breeding range and non-breeding range would help determine the status of the long-tailed pipit and whether it is threatened (3).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

For further information on the long-tailed pipit see:

Top

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk

Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (September, 2007)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org
  2. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (2004) Handbook of the Birds of the World: Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails. Volume 9. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
  3. BirdLife International (May, 2008)
    http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=9807&m=0

More »Related species

Correndera pipit (Anthus correndera)Red-throated pipit (Anthus cervinus)Long-billed pipit (Anthus similis)Water pipit (Anthus spinoletta)Sprague’s pipit (Anthus spragueii)Richard’s pipit (Anthus richardi)Short-billed pipit (Anthus furcatus)Blyth’s pipit (Anthus godlewskii)

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Long-tailed pipit in grass  
Long-tailed pipit in grass

© Per Smitterberg

Per Smitterberg
per.smitterberg@telia.com

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Long-tailed pipit (Anthus longicaudatus) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.