Meadow Pipit

Anthus pratensis

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: abundant
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Bisbita pratense

Photograph: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, vía Wikimedia Commons

Length: 15 cm
Weight: 19 g

Presence in the Strait

Abundant winter visitor to grasslands and crops.

Identification

Olive upperparts with bold dark streaks and pale underparts with heavy streaking. Pinkish legs. In flight, white outer tail feathers. Gregarious at times. Ground dwelling. Call: «psit, psit,... psit».

Movements

Peaks in 1st hf. March and 2nd hf. October.

Ring recoveries

Belgium (90), United Kingdom (37), Holland (17), Germany (6), Norway (6), France (5), Finland (4), Sweden (4), Iceland (3), Russia (3), Denmark (1), Channel Islands (1) and Poland (1). Mention must be made on one bird ringed in Belgium and controlled three days later at Villamartín (Cadiz), 1707 km. away. Motacillidae Bisbita Campestre formula alar wing formule Bisbita Arbóreo formula alar wing formule Bisbita Pratense

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

20 %

Peak in November. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 10 November 1958
Latest record: 15 February 2026

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

1990–1999

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

178 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Belgium90
United Kingdom38
Netherlands17
Germany6
Norway6
France5

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Tree Pipit15–15 cm · Migrant
Tawny Pipit16.5–16.5 cm · Seasonal
Water Pipit17–17 cm · Seasonal
Red Throated Pipit15–15 cm · Occasional
Richard´s Pipit18–18 cm · Occasional

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
GBIF taxon key: 2490266

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, vía Wikimedia Commons
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Meadow Pipit

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery