General

Pechora Pipit: Small pipit with heavily streaked, dark brown upperparts. Breast, sides, and flanks are washed yellow with heavy black streaks. Belly and outer tail feathers are white. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Pechora Pipit: Breeds in the tundra of northern Asia, eastwards of Russia. It is a long-distance migrant, moving in winter to Indonesia. Rarely in September and October, the Pechora Pipit may be observed in Western Europe. Rare visitor to the Aleutians and St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Breeding habitat is damp tundra, open forest or marshland.

Breeding and Nesting

Pechora Pipit: Four to six gray or green eggs with dark spots are laid in a nest made of grass and plant material, lined with small leaves, and built on the ground, often sheltered by tree roots, a grassy tussock, or a shrub. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Pechora Pipit Breeding Male: Eats mainly insects, particularly in the breeding season; takes some seeds in migration and on wintering grounds; forages on the ground and in low trees and bushes.

Vocalization

Pechora Pipit: Call is a harsh "pit", "pipit", or "pwit", usually given three times, or a distinctive electrical "zip."

Similar Species

Pechora Pipit: Red-throated Pipit has heavier bill, whiter back stripes, and buff throat (red-brown in breeding male). Tree Pipit has olive-gray upperparts. Olive-backed Pipit has faintly streaked olive-green upperparts.