Australasian Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae)

Other Names (World)
Australasian Pipit, Common Pipit, New Zealand Pipit, Australian Pipit (Australian and New Guinea subspecies)

Family
Motacillidae (Pipits And Wagtails)

Size
16 - 19 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Gmelin, 1789)

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland dry grassland. Also, subtropical and tropical lowland seasonally wet / flooded grassland, pastureland, rural gardens, arable land.

Range (Guide)

Australia (B), Indonesia, New Zealand (B), Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste (B) (NB).

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Small invertebrates including beetles, spiders and insect larvae. Also seeds of grasses.

Voice
A drawn-out 'tswee'. Also sparrow-like chirruping.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (11)...)

New Zealand Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) [XC34692]
by Johannes Fischer from Enderby Island, New Zealand (call, single call note)

New Zealand Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) [XC466572]
by Dan Lane from Tongariro Forest Park, Ruapehu District, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand (call)

Nest
Cup-shaped, composed of grass, placed at the base of vegatation or in the shelter of rocks or stones.

Eggs (Guide)
2 - 5, mainly 3 or 4; buff-white with brown blotches. Incubation: 14 - 15 days.

Young
Fledge in 14 - 16 days. Fed by both parents.

Subspecies
May form a superspecies with Richard's Pipit (Anthus richardi), Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus) and African Pipit (Anthus cinnamomeus). All were formerly treated as conspecific.

Described subspecies subaustralis (from west-central Western Australia) merged with australis; likewise, reischeki and taupoensis (both North Island, New Zealand) synonymized with nominate.

The following 9 subspecies are recognised:

novaeseelandiae (Gmelin, 1789) - North, South and Stewart Islands of New Zealand. North Island birds are sometimes treated as a separate subspecies Anthus novaeseelandiae reischeki.
aucklandicus Gray, GR, 1862 - Auckland Islands and Campbell Islands.
chathamensis Lorenz von Liburnau, L, 1902 - Chatham Islands.
steindachneri Reischek, 1889 - Antipodes Islands.
exiguus Greenway, 1935 - East-central New Guinea. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of the distinct species, Australian Pipit (Anthus australis).
rogersi (Gmelin, 1789) - Coastal north-western Australia east to Cape York Peninsula. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of the distinct species, Australian Pipit (Anthus australis).
bilbali Mathews, 1912 - South-western western Australia and south-central South Australia. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of the distinct species, Australian Pipit (Anthus australis).
australis Vieillot, 1818 - West-central, central, eastern and south-eastern Australia.
bistriatus (Swainson, 1838) - Tasmania, and islands in Bass Strait (King I, Flinders I). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of the distinct species, Australian Pipit (Anthus australis).

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Australasian Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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