Olive-backed Pipit

Anthus hodgsoniOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)

Codes: Common Name: OBPI Scientific Name: ANTHOD ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178495

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Olive-backed Pipit Breeding Male Portrait

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Olive-backed Pipit

Olive-backed Pipit: Medium-sized pipit with finely streaked, olive-green upperparts. White underparts, chin, belly and undertail coverts. The sides and breast are pale brown with bold dark streaks. The eyebrow is buff-orange in front and white behind eye. The legs and feet are pink.

● Song: "seep-seep-sia-sia", "tsee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Olive-backed Pipit: Eats mainly insects, but takes some seeds, especially outside the nesting season; forages on the ground or in low trees, often working wet areas and shorelines of rivers, streams, lakes, and bogs.

● Breeding & nesting: Olive-backed Pipit: Four or five light violet or gray eggs with dark blotches are laid in a bulky nest made of dried grass, hair, and moss, and built on the ground, sheltered by a bush or beside a grassy tussock. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Olive-backed Pipit: Pechora Pipit is smaller, stockier, whiter on underparts, has paired white streaks on back and black-streaked brown upperparts. Tree Pipit has more heavily streaked and browner back, and more distinct head pattern.

Flight Pattern

Fairly rapid wing beats in a series, alternating with wings pulled to sides.

Olive-backed Pipit Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Olive-backed Pipit: Native to Eurasia, but sometimes strays to islands off the west coast of Alaska. Prefers open grassy areas and hills, especially along rivers and bogs, and spruce-fir forests.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationCasual to accidental in AK, Accidental in CA & NV

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.7 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America