The Australian pipit is a fairly small passerine bird of open country in Australia and New Guinea. It belongs to the pipit genus Anthus in the family Motacillidae.
Region
Australia and New Guinea
Typical Environment
Found widely across open habitats including native grasslands, agricultural fields, airstrips, road verges, and coastal dunes. It avoids dense forests and closed shrublands, favoring short swards and patches of bare ground for foraging. In arid zones it occurs near water sources and in lightly vegetated gibber plains. In New Guinea it occupies open highland grasslands and cleared areas.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 2600 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This slender, ground-loving pipit is known for its constant tail-wagging and quick, stop–start runs across open ground. Males perform fluttering song-flights over territories in spring. It nests on the ground in a small grass-lined cup, making it vulnerable to trampling and mowing, yet it often benefits from moderate grazing that keeps grass short.
A. a. bistriatus, Tasmania
Chicks
Temperament
wary and terrestrial
Flight Pattern
low, undulating flight with short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Typically solitary or in pairs, defending small territories during breeding. The nest is a ground cup concealed at the base of grass tussocks, with both parents tending the young. Outside breeding, loose groups may form in suitable foraging areas.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a simple, tinkling series of thin phrases often delivered during a brief song-flight. Calls include a sharp, high tsip or tseeet given in flight and when flushed.
Plumage
Streaked brown upperparts with fine dark mottling, buffy underparts with streaking on the breast, and a clean paler belly. The tail is dark with conspicuous white outer feathers that flash in flight. A pale eyebrow (supercilium) and fine streaking give a lightly patterned look.
Diet
Primarily feeds on insects and other small invertebrates such as beetles, ants, grasshoppers, flies, caterpillars, and spiders. It occasionally takes seeds, especially outside the breeding season. Forages by walking or running, pausing to pick prey from the ground or low vegetation.
Preferred Environment
Short-grass areas, grazed pastures, edges of tracks, cultivated fields, and sparsely vegetated coastal or inland flats. Often uses recently disturbed ground where prey is exposed.
