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Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก

The Paddyfield Pipit or Oriental Pipit (Anthus rufulus) is a small passerine bird in the pipit and wagtail family. It is a resident (non-migratory) breeder in open scrub, grassland and cultivation in southern Asia east to the Philippines. Although among the few breeding pipits in the Asian region, identification becomes difficult in winter when several other species migrate into the region.

The taxonomy of the species is complex and has undergone considerable changes.

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก

Range map
Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net
www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there

Taxonomy and systematics
Some of the subspecies in the group were formerly treated as a subspecies of the Australasian pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae and the grouping has been in state of flux. Considerable colour and morphological variation with age and latitude make the species difficult to identify from museum specimens. Six subspecies are now included in this species.

• rufulus described by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1818 - found in most of Indian Subcontinent (except for the north-west, north and extreme south-west) east to southern China, south to southern Thailand and Indochina

• waitei described by Hugh Whistler in 1936 (not always recognized) is found in the dry zone of the north-western part of the Indian Subcontinent

• malayensis described by Thomas Campbell Eyton in 1839 is the dark form of the wet zone of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka

• lugubris described by Viscount Walden in 1875 - found in Philippines; possibly also northern Borneo.

• albidus described by Erwin Stresemann in 1912 - found in Sulawesi, Bali and the western Lesser Sundas (Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Padar, Rinca, Flores, Sumba).

• medius described by Wallace in 1864 - found in the eastern Lesser Sundas (Sawu, Roti, Timor, Kisar, Leti, Moa, Sermata).


Some authorities consider paddyfield pipit to be a subspecies of Richard's pipit, A. richardi.

Description
This is a large pipit at 15 cm, but is otherwise an undistinguished looking bird, mainly streaked grey-brown above and pale below with breast streaking. It is long legged with a long tail and a long dark bill. Sexes are similar. Summer and winter plumages are similar.

Young birds are more richly coloured below than adults and have the pale edges to the feathers of the upper parts more conspicuous with more prominent spotting on the breast. The population waitei from north-western India and Pakistan is pale while the population malayensis from the Western Ghats is larger, darker and more heavily streaked with the nominate rufulus intermediate.

In winter some care must be taken to distinguish this from other pipits that winter in the area, such as Richard's pipit, Anthus richardi and Blyth's pipit, Anthus godlewskii. The paddyfield pipit is smaller and dumpier, has a shorter looking tail and has weaker fluttering flight. The usually uttered characteristic chip-chip-chip call is quite different from usual calls of Richard's pipit (an explosive shreep) and Blyth's pipit (a nasal pschreen).

The tawny pipit has less streaking on the mantle and has a black loreal stripe and a longer tail. The Western Ghats population can appear very similar to the Nilgiri pipit.

Length: 16 cm
Wingspan:
Weight:
Longevity:
Distinctive Feature

Similar Species

• Compared with Richard's pipit, Paddyfield:

Seems more lanky, is less robust

Seems to have longer legs, these tending towards yellow

Holds its head straighter, with its beak less raised

Has a less uniform, more streaked mantle

Has a more heavily streaked cap

Has a wider and more visible eyebrow, so less clear apparent "glasses"

Has a less clear malar stripe

Has slightly different median coverts

Is more rufous underneath

From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.
Female / Male / Juvenile

• Sexes are similar - Juveniles have warmer brown upperparts.

From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.


Listen to the Paddyfield Pipit

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity

Sitting next to the road, seems to be looking for food as on picture #4



Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity

Sitting next to the dirt track singing / calling


www.xeno-canto.org

Behaviour and ecology
A widespread species found in open habitats, especially short grassland and cultivation with open bare ground. It runs rapidly on the ground, and when flushed, does not fly far.

The paddyfield pipit breeds throughout the year but mainly in the dry season. Birds may have two or more broods in a year. During the breeding season, it sings by repeating a note during its descent from a short fluttery flight, a few feet above the ground. It builds its nest on the ground under a slight prominence, a tuft of grass, or at the edge of a bush.

The nests are woven out of grass and leaves and are normally cup shaped. Exposed nests are sometimes domed or semi-domed, the long grass at the back and sides extending over the top. Nests are lined with finer grass or roots and sometimes with a little dry moss, bracken or other material at the base of the nest.

The usual clutch is three or four eggs with greenish ground colour and numerous small brown specks at the larger. When disturbed near the nest, the birds flutter nearby with weak tsip-tsip-tsip calls.

Parent birds may also feign injury to distract predators. Mites are known to cause scaly leg lesions. It feeds principally on small insects but consumes larger beetles, tiny snails, worms etc. while walking on the ground, and may pursue insects like mosquitoes or termites in the air.

A species of Haemoproteus, H. anthi, has been described from this species.

Conservation status
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.birdforum.net


Sighted: (Date of first photo that I could use) 8 May 2020
Location: Lat Krabang paddies, Bangkok

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang paddies, Bangkok

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang paddies, Bangkok

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang paddies, Bangkok

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang paddies, Bangkok

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 16 May 2020 - Lam Takhong Dam, Nakhon Ratchasimak

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 16 May 2020 - Lam Takhong Dam, Nakhon Ratchasimak

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 16 May 2020 - Lam Takhong Dam, Nakhon Ratchasimak

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 19 May 2020 - Lam Takhong Dam, Nakhon Ratchasimak

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
27 May 2020 - Laem Chabang International Country Club, Chonburi

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 1 July 2020
eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club, Chumphon

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 8 April 2022
Tambon Ko Samrong, Chang Wat Kanchanaburi

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 8 April 2022
Tambon Ko Samrong, Chang Wat Kanchanaburi

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 8 April 2022
Tambon Ko Samrong, Chang Wat Kanchanaburi

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก
Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 8 April 2022
Tambon Ko Samrong, Chang Wat Kanchanaburi



PLEASE! If I have made any mistakes identifying any bird, PLEASE let me know on my guestbook



       
                  



                                       
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