Richard's Pipit (Anthus richardi) [XC438645]
by Louis A. Hansen from Baikal Ringing Station, Tankhoy, Irkutsk, Russian Federation (call, flight call)
Richard's Pipit (Anthus richardi) [XC486330]
by Stanislas Wroza from Slyudyansky District, Irkutskaya oblast', Russian Federation (call, flight call, two types of calls in flight)
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 4; off-white to light brown, spotted and clouded wit dark grey and brow; tapered-oval; about 23 x 17 mm. Incubation: about 13 - 14 days; by female.
Subspecies
Richard's Pipit (Anthus richardi), African Pipit (Anthus cinnamomeus), Cameroon Pipit (Anthus camaroonensis) and Kenya populations of Jackson's Pipit (Anthus latistriatus) have been lumped into Anthus richardi following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993). Southern populations of Jackson's Pipit (Anthus latistriatus) have been lumped into Anthus similis also following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993).
May form a superspecies with Australasian Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus) and African Pipit (Anthus cinnamomeus). All were formerly treated as conspecific.
Subspecies ussuriensis considered by some authors to be synonymous with sinensis.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
richardi Vieillot, 1818 - Breeds south-western Siberia and north-eastern Kazakhstan east to L Baikal. Winters mainly south-western Asia, some farther west.
dauricus H. C. Johansen, 1952 - Breeds Transbaikalia and Yakutia east to Sea of Okhotsk and south to northern Mongolia, Manchuria and north-eastern China (north-western Heilong-Jiang). Winters southern Asia.
centralasiae (Kistiakovsky, 1928) - Breeds eastern Kazakhstan (Zaysan Basin, eastern Tien Shan) east to western and southern Mongolia, south to northern China (Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, probably also Nei Mongol). Winters southern Asia.
ussuriensis H. C. Johansen, 1952 - Breeds south-eastern Russia (lower Amur area, Ussuriland) south to eastern China (south to Sichuan and R Yangtze), probably also Korea. Winters south-eastern Asia.
sinensis (Bonaparte, 1850) - South-eastern China south of R Yangtze.
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