Subspecies
Has sometimes been thought to form a superspecies with Long-billed Pipit (Anthus similis). In the past was sometimes treated as conspecific with Blyth's Pipit (Anthus godlewskii). Variation largely clinal, in northern becoming smaller and paler from west to east, and in southern becoming larger and greyer from north-western Africa to Greece and then smaller and greyer east of there. Alternatively, kastschenkoi included within nominate. Conversely, birds from northern Iran and Turkey, intermediate in plumage between nominate and griseus but apparently larger than both, sometimes separated as subspecies boehmii.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
campestris (Linnaeus, 1758) - Breeds from central and southern Europe (Denmark and southern Baltic south to Mediterranean countries) and north-western Africa (Morocco east to Tunisia, possibly also south-western Mauritania and north-western Libya) east to south-western Siberia and north-western Kazakhstan and, in south, to northern Iran and Turkmenistan. Also locally in Middle East (Lebanon, southern Syria, northern Israel). Winters mainly in Africa and Arabia.
kastschenkoi H. C. Johansen, 1952 - Southern Siberia east to north-western Mongolia. Winters in southern Asia.
griseus Nicoll, 1920 - South-western Kazakhstan south to north-eastern Iran and northern Afghanistan, east to Dzhungarskiy Alatau Mts, extreme north-western China (Tien Shan, in northern Xinjiang) and south-central Mongolia. Winters in south-western and southern Asia.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet