Water pipit  (Anthus spinoletta)

Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1).

The water pipit is a rather short and stocky bird. Males and females tend to look similar with greyish-brown upperparts and pale cream underparts (3), dark legs and a slender, dark bill (4). Black streaks run smoothly down the breast (3) and the outer tail feathers are white. The water pipit moults twice each year (5), revealing distinctive breeding plumage during the summer: a pinkish breast, grey head and a pale stripe above each eye (4).

The water pipit occurs in the colder parts and high mountains of the northern hemisphere (6), including Nepal, India, Pakistan, Europe, Africa, and North America (7). It winters in the warmer countries of Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, and in northern Africa and southern Asia (6).

An inhabitant of mountain slopes and rocks above the treeline during summer, the water pipit descends in winter to wet meadows, watercress beds and sheltered estuaries (6).

The water pipit feeds primarily on insects and larvae, as well as some plant material.  It picks items from the ground or from low-lying vegetation as it walks, and may also feed from tidal pools and beaches (8). Occasionally the water pipit catches insects on the wing by making short leaps or by taking flight from a perch (9).

The nest of the water pipit tends to be situated on the side of a steep bank or in a hollow, well concealed by overhanging vegetation, and is made from surrounding vegetation by the female (9). Females lay two clutches a year, consisting of four to five eggs, which are incubated for 15 to 16 days (2). The male and female both forage for their young and tend to feed them larger and slower arthropods that are easier to catch, in order to obtain the most food they can in the shortest time, to increase the survival chances of their young (10).

Globally, the water pipit is not considered to be threatened with extinction (1), although in certain parts of its range there is concern for this species. In Russia, water pipit populations declined between 1990 and 2000 (11), and in the United Kingdom in 2009 it was moved from the ‘green’ list (indicating no conservation concern) to the ‘amber’ list because less than 900 individuals now breed in Europe (12).

In some areas, grazing animals pose a threat to the water pipit. A study carried out in the Czech Republic, in the Orlické and Jeseníky Mountains, found that grazing by large herbivorous animals negatively influenced the success of nesting water pipits (13). This is thought to occur as grazing alters the vegetation structure and the availability of food, and the nests may also be directly damaged by trampling (13).

In the future, climate change could potentially pose a huge threat to the water pipit. A survey carried out in 2003 found slight rises in temperature are causing premature melts of the snow in the mountain meadows of the Feldberg Region, Germany (14). This allows the meadow pipit to encroach on water pipit territories, increasing competition for food and nesting sites between the two species, and decreasing the water pipit’s chances of survival (14).

As this species is classified as Least Concern and has a large breeding population (1), there are currently no conservation measures known to be in place for this species.

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

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