Bird Guide

Australian Pipit vs Olive-backed Pipit

Australian Pipit (Anthus australis)

Australian Pipit

Anthus australis

Small40 g

It is a slender bird, 16 to 19 cm long, and weighs about 40 grams. The plumage is pale brown above with dark streaks. The underparts are pale with streaks on the breast. There is a pale stripe over the eye and dark malar and moustachial stripes. The long tail has white outer-feathers and is often wagged up and down. The legs are long and pinkish-brown while the bill is slender and brownish. It has a sparrow-like chirruping call and a drawn-out tswee call.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Astrid Osborne · CC0
Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni)

Olive-backed Pipit

Anthus hodgsoni

Small21 gGrassland

Size: Sparrow+ (ca. 15 cm (5.9 in)) Appearance: Greenish brown streaked with darker brown above. Supercilium, double wingbar and outer rectrices whitish. Whitish to buff below streaked with dark brown on breast and flanks. Sexes alike. Habits: Seen singly or pairs. Runs about on the ground in search of food and flies up into trees when disturbed. Flight jerky and undulating. Call: Song lark-like and uttered on the wing, similar to the tree pipit, but faster and higher pitched. A single tseep or spek, also similar to the tree pipit. Food: Insects, grass and weed seeds.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Olive-backed Pipit
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Flight call · Cabane Vauban (near Carolles), Manche, Normandie, France · CC0
Photo: (c) Griha Hasanov, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Griha Hasanov · cc-by

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Australian Pipit and Olive-backed Pipit.