Family Motacillidae (Wagtails, Pipits)
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 11:38 am
Pipits and wagtails are in the order Passeriformes and family Motacillidae. The family Motacillidae is one of the most widespread in the world and is divided into 6 genera, 65 species, 212 taxa. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predominantly found in Europe, Africa and Asia, with two species migrating and breeding in Alaska. Three genera are found in the Holarctic: Anthus (pipits), Motacilla (wagtails) and Dendronanthus (forest wagtail). Three are found only in Africa: Hemimacronyx (yellow-breasted pipit (H. chloris), and sharpe's longclaw (H. sharpei)), Tmetothylacus (golden pipit (T. tenellus)) and Macronyx (longclaws)).
Pipits and wagtails are small to medium sized birds (14 to 21 cm, 12 to 50 g) with long tails (especially wagtails, which often bob up and down the tail, especially while foraging), bodies, legs and claws (reaching up to 4 cm in some species of longclaw). They have thin, pointed bills with a small hump above the nostril. Sexes are of similar size, but males may be slightly larger and/or have longer wings.
Pipits are quite drab; they have brown plumage with streaking on the breast. It is difficult to identify different species of pipits in the field.
Wagtails, on the other hand, often have bright breeding plumage with white, black, gray, yellow and green feathers. Male and female wagtails are dimorphic in plumage; both females and juveniles tend to have less coloration than males and their plumage resembles male winter plumage. Pipits show no sexual dimorphism in plumage.
Overall the robust longclaws are larger than the pipits and wagtails.
Pipits and wagtails have a worldwide distribution. However, most species are found in Eurasia and Africa. Forty-six percent of pipit and wagtail species are found in Africa, 21 percent in Asia and 16 percent in the New World, Africa and Eurasia.
Pipits and wagtails can be found in a variety of habitats from temperate to tropical and polar regions. They prefer open and semi-open habitat. Suitable habitat includes: shrubland, savanna, tundra, dunes, salt marshes, desert, rocky shorelines, roadsides, creeksides, agricultural fields and urban areas.
For the most part, pipits and wagtails are monogamous. However, polygyny and extra pair copulations do occur. The birds usually form pairs as soon as they reach their breeding grounds. The same pairs may nest together season to season. Pipits and wagtails are territorial and defend their nest site by singing from perches and performing song flights. Bill raising and wing vibration are also used during displays. In addition, some pipits exhibit courtship feeding.
Breeding in pipits and wagtails coincides with prey abundance. Nest building takes 4 to 20 days; nests are often placed on the ground, in trees, or in cavities in banks, cliffs, buildings or walls. Nests are usually protected by rocks and vegetation or are placed in a small hole or excavated cavity. They are cup shaped and made of grass, willow, bark, lichen, moss, leaves and twigs. Nests may be lined with grass, fur, feathers and rootlets, and are sometimes held together with mud. Some pipits build domed nests. Clutch size is usually 4 to 7 for wagtails and 3 to 7 for pipits (usually five). Eggs are 13 to 16 by 17 to 21 mm and are white to light green to dark olive with dark spots. Incubation lasts 10 to 15 days. Only female pipits incubate, although males bring females food while they are on the nest. Both male and female wagtails incubate, but females spend more time on the eggs than males. Hatching is synchronous and the altricial young are brooded for 5 to 6 days. Both adults feed the nestlings and remove fecal sacks. Young are primarily fed insects. Fledging occurs after 12 to 15 days, but the chicks may leave as early as 9 days after hatching if the nest is disturbed. Chicks often leave the nest before they can fly, and they continue to be fed by their parents for 14 to 18 days.
Some pipits and wagtails are solitary, and others are gregarious. Many species are solitary during breeding but will flock during the non-breeding season. They are mainly terrestrial, but will perch on rocks, shrubs and trees. They are territorial during the breeding season and defend their territories using song and display flights. Song flights are more developed in pipits than wagtails; they last from 30 seconds to 40 minutes and the male can reach up to 90 meters in height. Wagtails often sing from bushes or tussocks and while in flight. The birds walk rather than hop along the ground are known to pump or wag their tails up and down as they forage. Both pipits and wagtails have an undulating flight pattern.
Most pipits and wagtails are migratory, although some southern species may be residents. The birds can double their weight before beginning migration and some species of wagtail cross the Sahara non-stop during migration.
Pipits of the genus Anthus will apply ants to their plumage for cleaning, a behavior called anting. Both pipits and wagtails bathe in shallow standing water. They also undergo a complete molt after breeding and a partial molt before breeding.
Pipits and wagtails are primarily insectivores although they sometimes eat seeds, berries and other prey. They usually forage on the ground, but will occasionally catch aerial insects. They also forage in shallow water for aquatic invertebrates and catch insects on foliage or near the surface of water. Tail length affects the birds’ maneuverability and therefore their ability to catch insects in flight; species with longer tails tend to do more fly catching. Wagtails sometimes forage alongside of groups of cattle, sheep and wild ungulates. These animals stir up insects and make it easier for the birds to find and catch them.
The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, Anthus, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. The pipits are generally highly conservative in appearance. They are generally between 16–21 cm in length, although the smallest species, the Short-tailed Pipit, is only 11.5–12.5 cm. Like all members of the family they are slender, short necked birds with long tails, long slender legs with elongated (in some cases very elongated) hind claws. The length of the hindclaw varies with the habits of the species, more arboreal species have shorter, more curved hindclaws than the more terrestrial species. The bills are generally long, slender and pointed. In both size and plumage there is little differences between the sexes. One unusual feature of the pipits, which they share in common with the rest of their family but not the rest of the passerines, is that the tertials on the wing entirely cover the primary flight feathers. This is thought to be a feature to protect the primaries, which are important to flight, from the sun, which causes the feathers to fade and become brittle if not protected.
The plumage of the pipits is generally drab and brown, buff or faded white. The undersides are usually darker than the top, and there is a variable amount of barring and streaking on the back, wings and breast. The drab mottled brown colours provide some camouflage against the soil and stones they are generally found on. The Yellow-breasted Pipit, if it is retained in this genus, is quite atypical in having bright yellow plumage on the throat breast and belly.
Pipits are morphologically similar to some larks. However the two groups are quite distantly related: the lark family Alaudidae is part of the Sylvioidea superfamily, rather than the Passeroidea, where the pipits are placed. Morphological differences between the two groups of birds are in fact plentiful. Anatomical differences include a differently-structured syrinx, differences in the structure of the tarsus, and in many lark genera, the presence of a distinct tenth primary, a fourth tertial, and feathers at least partially covering the nostrils. Bill shape differs between larks and pipits: larks have an evenly sloping culmen, whereas most pipits have a small hump over the nostrils, and lark bills are generally heavier, reflecting differences in diet. There are differences in the feather tracts of the two groups: while many larks have crests, no pipit does; pipits have only one prominent row of scapulars, whereas larks have two.
The pipits are active terrestrial birds that usually spend most of their time on the ground. They will fly in order to display during breeding, while migrating and dispersing, and also when flushed by danger. A few species make use of trees, perching in them and flying to them when disturbed. Low shrubs, rocks and termite nests may also be used as vantage points. Like their relatives the wagtails, pipits engage in tail-wagging. The way in which a pipit does this can provide clues to its identity in otherwise similar looking species. Upland Pipits, for example, flick their tails quite quickly, as opposed to Olive-backed Pipits which wag their tails more gently.In general pipits move their tails quite slowly. The Buff-bellied Pipit wags its tail both up and down and from side to side. The exact function of tail-wagging is unclear; in the related wagtails it is thought to be a signal to predators of vigilance.
Pipits and wagtails are small to medium sized birds (14 to 21 cm, 12 to 50 g) with long tails (especially wagtails, which often bob up and down the tail, especially while foraging), bodies, legs and claws (reaching up to 4 cm in some species of longclaw). They have thin, pointed bills with a small hump above the nostril. Sexes are of similar size, but males may be slightly larger and/or have longer wings.
Pipits are quite drab; they have brown plumage with streaking on the breast. It is difficult to identify different species of pipits in the field.
Wagtails, on the other hand, often have bright breeding plumage with white, black, gray, yellow and green feathers. Male and female wagtails are dimorphic in plumage; both females and juveniles tend to have less coloration than males and their plumage resembles male winter plumage. Pipits show no sexual dimorphism in plumage.
Overall the robust longclaws are larger than the pipits and wagtails.
Pipits and wagtails have a worldwide distribution. However, most species are found in Eurasia and Africa. Forty-six percent of pipit and wagtail species are found in Africa, 21 percent in Asia and 16 percent in the New World, Africa and Eurasia.
Pipits and wagtails can be found in a variety of habitats from temperate to tropical and polar regions. They prefer open and semi-open habitat. Suitable habitat includes: shrubland, savanna, tundra, dunes, salt marshes, desert, rocky shorelines, roadsides, creeksides, agricultural fields and urban areas.
For the most part, pipits and wagtails are monogamous. However, polygyny and extra pair copulations do occur. The birds usually form pairs as soon as they reach their breeding grounds. The same pairs may nest together season to season. Pipits and wagtails are territorial and defend their nest site by singing from perches and performing song flights. Bill raising and wing vibration are also used during displays. In addition, some pipits exhibit courtship feeding.
Breeding in pipits and wagtails coincides with prey abundance. Nest building takes 4 to 20 days; nests are often placed on the ground, in trees, or in cavities in banks, cliffs, buildings or walls. Nests are usually protected by rocks and vegetation or are placed in a small hole or excavated cavity. They are cup shaped and made of grass, willow, bark, lichen, moss, leaves and twigs. Nests may be lined with grass, fur, feathers and rootlets, and are sometimes held together with mud. Some pipits build domed nests. Clutch size is usually 4 to 7 for wagtails and 3 to 7 for pipits (usually five). Eggs are 13 to 16 by 17 to 21 mm and are white to light green to dark olive with dark spots. Incubation lasts 10 to 15 days. Only female pipits incubate, although males bring females food while they are on the nest. Both male and female wagtails incubate, but females spend more time on the eggs than males. Hatching is synchronous and the altricial young are brooded for 5 to 6 days. Both adults feed the nestlings and remove fecal sacks. Young are primarily fed insects. Fledging occurs after 12 to 15 days, but the chicks may leave as early as 9 days after hatching if the nest is disturbed. Chicks often leave the nest before they can fly, and they continue to be fed by their parents for 14 to 18 days.
Some pipits and wagtails are solitary, and others are gregarious. Many species are solitary during breeding but will flock during the non-breeding season. They are mainly terrestrial, but will perch on rocks, shrubs and trees. They are territorial during the breeding season and defend their territories using song and display flights. Song flights are more developed in pipits than wagtails; they last from 30 seconds to 40 minutes and the male can reach up to 90 meters in height. Wagtails often sing from bushes or tussocks and while in flight. The birds walk rather than hop along the ground are known to pump or wag their tails up and down as they forage. Both pipits and wagtails have an undulating flight pattern.
Most pipits and wagtails are migratory, although some southern species may be residents. The birds can double their weight before beginning migration and some species of wagtail cross the Sahara non-stop during migration.
Pipits of the genus Anthus will apply ants to their plumage for cleaning, a behavior called anting. Both pipits and wagtails bathe in shallow standing water. They also undergo a complete molt after breeding and a partial molt before breeding.
Pipits and wagtails are primarily insectivores although they sometimes eat seeds, berries and other prey. They usually forage on the ground, but will occasionally catch aerial insects. They also forage in shallow water for aquatic invertebrates and catch insects on foliage or near the surface of water. Tail length affects the birds’ maneuverability and therefore their ability to catch insects in flight; species with longer tails tend to do more fly catching. Wagtails sometimes forage alongside of groups of cattle, sheep and wild ungulates. These animals stir up insects and make it easier for the birds to find and catch them.
The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, Anthus, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. The pipits are generally highly conservative in appearance. They are generally between 16–21 cm in length, although the smallest species, the Short-tailed Pipit, is only 11.5–12.5 cm. Like all members of the family they are slender, short necked birds with long tails, long slender legs with elongated (in some cases very elongated) hind claws. The length of the hindclaw varies with the habits of the species, more arboreal species have shorter, more curved hindclaws than the more terrestrial species. The bills are generally long, slender and pointed. In both size and plumage there is little differences between the sexes. One unusual feature of the pipits, which they share in common with the rest of their family but not the rest of the passerines, is that the tertials on the wing entirely cover the primary flight feathers. This is thought to be a feature to protect the primaries, which are important to flight, from the sun, which causes the feathers to fade and become brittle if not protected.
The plumage of the pipits is generally drab and brown, buff or faded white. The undersides are usually darker than the top, and there is a variable amount of barring and streaking on the back, wings and breast. The drab mottled brown colours provide some camouflage against the soil and stones they are generally found on. The Yellow-breasted Pipit, if it is retained in this genus, is quite atypical in having bright yellow plumage on the throat breast and belly.
Pipits are morphologically similar to some larks. However the two groups are quite distantly related: the lark family Alaudidae is part of the Sylvioidea superfamily, rather than the Passeroidea, where the pipits are placed. Morphological differences between the two groups of birds are in fact plentiful. Anatomical differences include a differently-structured syrinx, differences in the structure of the tarsus, and in many lark genera, the presence of a distinct tenth primary, a fourth tertial, and feathers at least partially covering the nostrils. Bill shape differs between larks and pipits: larks have an evenly sloping culmen, whereas most pipits have a small hump over the nostrils, and lark bills are generally heavier, reflecting differences in diet. There are differences in the feather tracts of the two groups: while many larks have crests, no pipit does; pipits have only one prominent row of scapulars, whereas larks have two.
The pipits are active terrestrial birds that usually spend most of their time on the ground. They will fly in order to display during breeding, while migrating and dispersing, and also when flushed by danger. A few species make use of trees, perching in them and flying to them when disturbed. Low shrubs, rocks and termite nests may also be used as vantage points. Like their relatives the wagtails, pipits engage in tail-wagging. The way in which a pipit does this can provide clues to its identity in otherwise similar looking species. Upland Pipits, for example, flick their tails quite quickly, as opposed to Olive-backed Pipits which wag their tails more gently.In general pipits move their tails quite slowly. The Buff-bellied Pipit wags its tail both up and down and from side to side. The exact function of tail-wagging is unclear; in the related wagtails it is thought to be a signal to predators of vigilance.