Water Pipit

Anthus spinoletta

Introduction

The Alpine-breeding Water Pipit is a winter visitor to British and Irish wetlands, predominantly those found in the south. It arrives during September and October.

The Water Pipit has a curious behaviour in that part of the breeding population from the mountains of southern Europe move north for the winter. Its favoured habitat during the winter months is freshwater and coastal marshes in England – it is a scarce bird in Scotland and Wales and rare on the island of Ireland.

Water Pipits begin to head back to their breeding areas during April, by which time many are sporting their pink and grey breeding attire. It is estimated that around 300 individuals spend the winter months in Britain & Ireland, but there can be cold weather influxes.

Key Stats

Scarce

23g

4-5

<1%

BTO Records

41k records

Population and distribution stats for:

No data

No current data

No current data

No data

205

211.7% expansion

Identification

Curated resources to aid in the identification of Water Pipit

ID Videos

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This section features BTO training videos headlining this species, or featuring it as a potential confusion species.

Rock Pipit and Water Pipit

Songs and Calls

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Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Water Pipit, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

Song:

Flight call:

Status and Trends

Population size, trends and patterns of distribution based on BTO and partnership surveys and atlasses with data collected by BTO volunteers.

Conservation Status

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This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern

Amber listed

Species of European Conservation Concern

Least Concern

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)

Least Concern

Schedule 1 Licence required (to disturb)*

Birds Directive Annex 1

Listed on the Annexes of*

Bern(III)

* A guide only. Check details with the original legislation, especially those marked with an asterisk. See About Birdfacts for more information.

Population Size

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BOU Category

Source

First Record*

East Sussex, 1859 (added to list 1987)

* First documented occurrence. Most species undoubtedly occurred before this. See About Birdfacts for more information.

Population Change

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Water Pipit is a scarce winter visitor to the UK with approximately 200 individuals recorded each year [Woodward et al. 2020]. It has a southerly distribution and is associated with coastal areas as well as wetland and marshes in larger inland river valleys [Balmer 2013].

Distribution

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Water Pipits are scarce winter visitors from alpine areas of southern Europe. They mostly winter in the south of Britain and Ireland with a bias towards the coast; inland records are associated with large wetlands and marshes in the larger river valleys. The highest counts were received from the English east coast between the Humber and Suffolk, and from the Fens.

Occupied 10-km squares in UK

These figures come from Bird Atlas 2007 and indicate how widespread a species is.

No. occupied in winter

317

% occupied in winter

10%

Bird Atlas distribution maps show where bird species breed or winter in Britain and Ireland. For breeding maps, larger dots indicate higher certainty the species bred in that area.

Click the map to enlarge,
or view it on Bird Atlas Mapstore.

Click the map to enlarge,
or view it on Bird Atlas Mapstore.

To view and download up-to-date distribution information aggregated from across BTO and partnership surveys and schemes, see our data holdings on the NBN Atlas.

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Distribution Change

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Change in occupied 10-km squares in the UK

These figures come from Bird Atlas 2007-11 and indicate by how much occupied areas have expanded or contracted over recent decades.

% change in range in winter (1981–84 to 2007–11)

211.7 %

Bird Atlas distribution change maps show how bird distributions have changed through time. Coloured upward-pointing triangles show places apparently colonised over the period; grey downward-pointing triangles show places apparently vacated. Shading show places occupied.

Winter Distribution change for Water Pipit

Click the map to enlarge,
or view it on Bird Atlas Mapstore.

Seasonality

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Water Pipit is a winter visitor, arriving mostly from late October and remaining until April.

Weekly pattern of occurrence

The graph shows when the species is present in the UK, with taller bars indicating a higher likelihood of encountering the species in appropriate regions and habitats.

Phenology graph — Weekly occurrence patterns (shaded cells and reporting rates (vertical bars) based on BirdTrack data. Reporting rates give the likelihood of encountering the species each week.

Movement

Information about Water Pipit movements and migration based on online bird portals (e.g. BirdTrack), Ringing schemes and tracking studies.

Britain & Ireland movement

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View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

Dots show the foreign destinations of birds ringed in Britain & Ireland, and the origins of birds ringed overseas that were subsequently recaptured, resighted or found dead in Britain & Ireland. Dot colours indicate the time of year that the species was present at the location.

Winter (Nov-Feb)
Spring (Mar-Apr)
Summer (May-Jul)
Autumn (Aug-Oct)

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

European movements

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EuroBirdPortal uses birdwatcher's records, such as those logged in BirdTrack to map the flows of birds as they arrive and depart Europe. See maps for this species here.

The Eurasian-African Migration Atlas shows movements of individual birds ringed or recovered in Europe. See maps for this species here.

Biology

Lifecycle and body size information for Water Pipit, including statistics on nesting, eggs and lifespan based on BTO ringing and nest recording data.

Productivity and Nesting

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Nesting timing

Typical (exceptional) number of broods

Source

Egg measurements

Typical length x width

21x16 mm

Mass (% shell)

2.7g (5%)

Source

Clutch Size

Typical number

5-4 eggs

Observed minimum and maximum

2-6 eggs

Source

Incubation

Incubation by

Female

Typical duration

15-14 days

Source

Fledging

Type of chick

Altricial, downy

Typical duration

16-15 days

Source

Survival and Longevity

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Survival is shown as the proportion of birds surviving from one year to the next and is derived from bird ringing data. It can also be used to estimate how long birds typically live.

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report.

lifespan

Maximum age from a ringed bird

4 years, 9 months, 15 days (set in 1965)

Biometrics

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Wing length and body weights are from live birds (source).

Ring Size

Classification, names and codes

Taxonomy, names and species codes for Water Pipit

Classification and Codes

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Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Scientific name: Anthus spinoletta
Authority: Linnaeus, 1758

BTO 2-letter code: WI
BTO 5-letter code: WATPI
Euring code number: 10141

Alternate species names

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Catalan: grasset de muntanya
Czech: linduška horská
Danish: Bjergpiber
Dutch: Waterpieper
Estonian: mägikiur
Finnish: vuorikirvinen
French: Pipit spioncelle

German: Bergpieper
Hungarian: havasi pityer
Icelandic: Fjalltittlingur
Irish: Riabhóg Uisce
Italian: Spioncello
Latvian: udenu cipste
Lithuanian: vandeninis kalviukas
Norwegian: Vannpiplerke

Polish: siwerniak
Portuguese: petinha-ribeirinha
Slovak: labtuška vrchovská
Slovenian: vriskarica
Spanish: Bisbita alpino
Swedish: vattenpiplärka
Welsh: Corhedydd y Dwr

More Evidence

More evidence from Conservation Evidence.com

Partners

Birdfacts is based on data collected by volunteers participating in surveys that are organised and funded by BTO, RSPB, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, JNCC and other partners.

BTO

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

JNCC

RSPB

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