Rock Pipit Anthus petrosus Scientific name definitions

16·5–17 cm; 18–32·5 g. Nominate race has narrow, broken whitish eyering, sometimes hint of pale supercilium , grey-brown to olive-brown lores and ear-coverts, pale buff submoustachial stripe, indistinct brown malar stripe; dark olive-grey above  , head lightly and thinly streaked dark, mantle indistinctly streaked dark, rump more olive and plainer; remiges, primary coverts and greater wing-coverts blackish-brown, edged olive-grey, median coverts blackish, tipped olive-grey, lesser coverts dark grey, tipped olive-grey; tail dark brown, T5 with small grey tip, T6 with pale greyish outer web and tip of inner web; chin creamy; underparts light buff to dirty buffish, breast  and flanks with heavy but diffuse dark brown streaking (often rather duller below in winter); underwing-coverts and axillaries grey, fringed creamy; iris blackish-brown; bill blackish; legs black to dark brown or dark-reddish-brown. Sexes alike. Immature resembles adult, sometimes browner and more obviously streaked above. Race <em>kleinschmidti</em> differs from nominate in having slightly yellower, less olive, tinge above, brighter and yellower ground colour below; littoralis has usually more obvious supercilium than nominate, paler wedge on outer rectrix (variable), summer plumage variable, often like nominate, but some are greyer above and have breast  pinkish to vinous with streaking reduced or, rarely, almost absent (approaching A. spinoletta in appearance).

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Exposed rocky sea coasts and islands with low vegetation; occasionally breeds away from coast, e.g. up to 400 m inland on St Kilda (W Scotland), or on islands in large inland lakes, e.g. in S Sweden. Sometimes occurs inland along estuaries and at various wetlands, as well as on less rocky coasts , during passage and in winter.

Resident and migratory. Nominate race largely resident, with some short-distance dispersal; <em>kleinschmidti</em> may move short distances inland to rivers and lakes or to sandy shores. Most populations of littoralis migratory, winter on coasts from S Norway and SW Sweden S to SW Europe, a few reaching NW Africa (Morocco); departure from breeding grounds Sept–Oct, return from Mar onwards, arrival in extreme N not until May. Stragglers recorded in Spitsbergen, Iceland, Canary Is, Mediterranean islands, and several countries in interior of C Europe.

Prey comprises a range of invertebrates, from terrestrial snails and slugs (Mollusca), worms (Annelida), small crabs and other crustaceans, and small fish, to aphids (Homoptera), flies (Diptera) and adult  and larval beetles (Coleoptera); also seeds. In one study in SW England (Cornwall), periwinkles (Littorina neritoides), chironomid larvae, larvae of the kelp fly Coelopa and isopods (Idotea) were the four common littoral foods taken; amphipod larvae (Talitridae) were sometimes important in late summer. Amphipods important prey in Ireland and Scotland. Wintering concentrations in the Netherlands fed almost exclusively on the mollusc Asiminea grayana; winter diet in Norway mostly crustaceans. Forages mainly on the shore, searching among seaweed and on rocks in intertidal area; also on cliff tops in summer. Will wade in sea water, following receding waves to find prey. Also observed to follow a tractor moving pebbles on beach, and to pick up prey exposed by machine’s activity. Makes short sallies to take flying insects, but rarely pursues insects far in flight. Usually forages singly or in small loose groups.

Song  , in flight, a sequence of sharp notes repeated in series, with several theme changes, usually with terminal trill, rather similar to that of A. pratensis but louder and with introductory notes slightly lower-pitched; one recording likened to “cheep cheep” followed by 27 double harsh “cheep-a” notes, 16 thin musical “ge” or “gee” notes rising in pitch, 12 higher-pitched “psee”, 10 lower-pitched musical notes, and finally three dry rattles, the song lasting 18 seconds. Call  a sharp “wiisst”, “phi(s)t” or “tsup”, lower-pitched and more metallic than that of A. pratensis and usually given as single or double call; alarm a high-pitched shrill “chip”, “chick” or “ssit”.

Mid-Mar to Aug, varying with latitude, from Jun in far N; double-brooded in S of range. Monogamous, but polygyny reported in Sweden (race littoralis); territorial. In song flight, male rises to c. 15–30 m, then either flutters forward or in circle for variable distance, or immediately descends in parachute fashion to rock or ground. Nest, built by female, a bulky cup of grass stems, leaves and seaweed, rather flimsily lined with finer material, placed in crevice in cliff, or in small cavity on bank or grassy slope, or under rock or clump of vegetation. Clutch 4–6 eggs; incubation usually by female alone, occasionally assisted by male, period 14–15 days; chicks fed by both parents, fledging period 16 days; fledglings attended by both adults for several days. Average productivity in Britain 2·5 young per pair; in NW France, juvenile mortality more than 68%, and majority of chicks did not survive for more than 4 weeks after fledgling.

Not globally threatened. Common. Global population estimated at c. 408,000 pairs, of which majority (c. 300,000) in Norway. Densities vary from 0·9 to 6 pairs/km of coast; c. 5 pairs/km of favoured coastal habitat in Cornwall (SW England) and 5–6 pairs/km in Loch Sunart (W Scotland). British population has slightly declined since mid-1970s; apparently stable elsewhere. Expansion of range to N in Finland between 1970 and 1990, but this stopped at Quark, probably because of lack of seaweed in Gulf of Bothnia. Few threats to habitat; locally, oil pollution on rocky shores can have adverse effect on this species’ invertebrate prey, but generally only temporarily.