South Georgia Pipit Anthus antarcticus Scientific name definitions

16·5 cm. Has indistinct buffish supercilium and area around eye, more prominent blackish moustachial and malar stripes; dark brown above , rufous or fawn-white feather edges giving heavily streaked appearance, indistinct pale lines on mantle side; wing feathers edged pale, wing-coverts with pale tips (indistinct wingbar on median coverts); tail blackish-brown, outer rectrix mostly greyish-white; throat whitish, underparts whitish, breast , belly and flanks usually washed buff, with heavy brown streaks, belly centre less streaked; iris dark brown; bill blackish, reddish base; legs greyish to flesh-brown, hind claw rather long. Sexes alike. Juvenile is generally more buff than adult, especially below.

South Georgia (mainland and offshore islets), in S Atlantic Ocean.

Tussac (Poa flabellata) grassland, especially by streams and inland pools, and rocky shores ; at and near sea-level. Mainly along ice-free shorelines during austral winter.

Resident; most move to offshore islets to breed.

Small arthropods, such as adult and nymphal springtails (Collembola), beetles (Coleoptera), flies (Diptera) and spiders (Araneae). Springtails trapped in small freshwater pools by surface tension a favoured food in spring; feeds extensively on marine invertebrates along shoreline and around tidal pools, especially when grass areas snow-covered during winter. Uses thick grass as cover when foraging; walks or runs a short distance, stops, flicks tail, runs again. Picks food items from grass or from algae.

Song, in flight, soft twittering phrases and high-pitched series, up to several minutes in duration, described as resembling song of a Motacilla or of Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) but longer, and softer in tone than latter’s; also a shorter song, with longer intervals, from ground. Quiet soft notes or sharper “tzip” when flushed.

Breeds mid Nov–Jan/Feb; frequently double-brooded. Male performs display-flight. Nest a deep, bulky cup of fine roots and dry grass, lined with feathers, partly domed, built ground within grass tussock; also reported as placed in rock crevice on mainland. Clutch usually 3–4 eggs, sometimes 5; incubation and fledging periods not documented. Winter survival of juveniles low. Occasionally preyed on by Brown Skua (Catharacta antarctica) of race lonnbergi.

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near-threatened. Not uncommon; current population estimated at 3000–4000 pairs. Has been largely exterminated from the mainland by brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), and breeds only in a few areas enclosed by sea-level glaciers on S side of island, where rats absent; breeding pairs now largely confined to c. 20 rat-free offshore islets, e.g. 150–200 pairs on Bird I, and numerous on Prion I (e.g. 6 pairs in c. 0·5 km on a tussocky hillside). Rapid increase in numbers of Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at South Georgia (where 95% of world population now breeds) has resulted in destruction of more than 60% of the tussac grass habitat in certain areas (mainly Bird I and NW extremity of main island), as females and pups wander inland to rest in summer; grasses along streambanks and in meadows also squashed by fur seals moving between coast and inland haul-out areas. Although destruction of vegetation may have had some detrimental effects on this pipit, which depends on tussac grass for nesting sites, one researcher noted no change in the species’ numbers on Bird I during nine years in 1990s; he suggested that damage to grass might have caused redistribution of the species, rather than any reduction in its numbers. Brown rats, combined with recession of glaciers (allowing further spread by this predator), believed to pose main threats.