Breeding Location:
Mountains, Marshes, freshwater, Swamps, Grasslands
Breeding Type:
Monogamous, Solitary nester
Breeding Population:
Widespread
Egg Color:
Gray white with brown markings
Number of Eggs:
3 - 7
Incubation Days:
13 - 15
Egg Incubator:
Female
Nest Material:
Often no nest materials, but will sometimes use sticks and grass.
Migration:
Migratory
Recommended Products:
Overview
American Pipit: Small pipit, gray-brown upperparts and pale buff underparts; breast is faintly to darkly streaked. Tail is dark with white edges. Black bill is thin and long. Legs and feet are black. It can be distinguished from sparrows by its longer bill and habit of wagging its tail up and down.
Range and Habitat
American Pipit: Breeds from northern Alaska, Mackenzie, Canadian Arctic islands, and Newfoundland, south in mountains to California, New Mexico, and northern New Hampshire. Spends winters across the southern states and north to British Columbia and southern New England. Preferred habitats include Arctic and alpine tundra, beaches, barren fields, agricultural lands, and golf courses.
Breeding and Nesting
American Pipit: Three to seven gray white eggs, marked with brown, are laid in a cup of grass and twigs built on the ground sheltered by a rock or tussock. Incubation ranges from 13 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.
Foraging and Feeding
American Pipit: Feeds on insects, spiders, mites, mollusks, crustaceans, and aquatic worms; forages while walking on the ground.
Vocalization
American Pipit: Song is a series of rapid "cheedle" notes. Flight call is a sharp "pip pipit."
Similar Species
American Pipit: Sprague's Pipit has fewer streaks on underparts, more streaks on back, paler face, and pink legs. Sparrows and Longspurs have thick, conical bills.
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