Peruvian pipit

{{speciesbox | name = Peruvian pipit | image = Anthus_peruvianus_1.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2024 |title=Peruvian Pipit ''Anthus peruvianus'' |volume=2024 |article-number=e.T103820648A263939416 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T103820648A263939416.en |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref> | genus = Anthus | species = peruvianus | authority = Nicholson, 1878 | synonyms = | range_map = Anthus peruvianus map.svg }}

The '''Peruvian pipit''' (''Anthus peruvianus'') is a species of bird in the family Motacillidae, the wagtails and pipits. It is found in Chile and Peru.<ref name=IOC15.1>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/waxbills/ |title=Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 15.1 | editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=March 2025 |access-date=6 March 2026 }}</ref>

==Taxonomy and systematics==

The Peruvian pipit was described by Francis Nicholson in 1878 with the binomial ''Anthus peruvianus''.<ref name=Nicholson>{{cite journal | last=Nicholson |first=Francis | journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London | title=On an apparently new Species of American Pipit | volume=1878 | pages=390–391 | date= 1878 |language=Latin, English | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28511622 |access-date=March 7, 2026 }}</ref> For much of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first it was treated as a subspecies of what is now the yellowish pipit (originally ''A. chii'', then ''A. lutescens'', and now again ''A. chii'').<ref name=PEPI-BOW>del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Peruvian Pipit (''Anthus peruvianus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yelpip3.01 retrieved March 7, 2026</ref> Nicholson had noted its similarity to ''A. chii''.<ref name=Nicholson/> It was again recognized as a full species following a study published in 2018.<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Van Els | first1=P. | last2= Norambuena | first2=H.V. | year=2018 | title= A revision of species limits in Neotropical pipits ''Anthus'' based on multilocus genetic and vocal data | journal=Ibis | volume=160 | pages=158–172 | doi= 10.1111/ibi.12511 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Peruvian pipit is monotypic.<ref name=IOC15.1/>

==Description==

The Peruvian pipit is one of the smallest members of genus ''Anthus''. It is {{convert|13|to|14|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a brown head with a weak whitish supercilium and a thin white eye-ring. Their upperparts are brown with dark streaks and white "braces" on the shoulders. Their wing coverts have pale tips that show as two wing bars. Their flight feathers are blackish brown with buff edges. Their tail is mostly blackish brown with much white on the outer two pairs of feathers. Their throat and underparts are whitish with dark brown streaks in a band across the breast. They have a dark iris, a dark maxilla, a pale pinkish mandible, and pale pinkish legs and feet.<ref name=PEPI-BOW/>

==Distribution and habitat==

The Peruvian pipit is found in a thin coastal band from Piura Department in far northwestern Peru south into extreme northwestern Chile's Arica Province.<ref name=PEPI-BOW/><ref name=Schulenberg>{{cite book | last =Schulenberg | first =T.S. | last2 =Stotz | first2 =D.F. | last3 =Lane | first3 =D.F. | last4 =O'Neill | first4 =J.P. | last5 =Parker | first5 =T.A. III | title =Birds of Peru | publisher =Princeton University Press | edition =revised and updated |series=Princeton Field Guides | date =2010 | location =Princeton, NJ | pages =518 |isbn = 978-0691130231 }}</ref> In Peru it inhabits marshes, pastures, and agricultural fields at elevations from sea level up to about {{convert|450|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Schulenberg/> In Chile it is found mostly in areas of short grass on sandy soils up to about {{convert|100|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}.<ref name=PEPI-BOW/>

==Behavior== ===Movement===

The Peruvian pipit is a year-round resident.<ref name=IUCN/>

===Feeding===

The Peruvian pipit's diet has not been studied but is known to include insects and thought to also include seeds. It forages while walking and running on the ground.<ref name=PEPI-BOW/>

===Breeding===

Nothing is known about the Peruvian pipit's breeding biology.<ref name=PEPI-BOW/>

{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Anthus-peruvianus |species=the Peruvian pipit}} ===Vocalization===

The Peruvian pipit's song is "one or several introductory notes followed by a descending sizzle: ''tik tik SIZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-ZZZZZ''". Its call is "a dry ''chit-it''".<ref name=Schulenberg/>

==Status==

The IUCN has assessed the Peruvian pipit as being of Least Concern. Its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.<ref name=IUCN/> It is considered fairly common in Peru<ref name=Schulenberg/>. Its population in Chile probably fluctuates "depending on available vegetation (i.e. dry vs. wet years)".<ref name=PEPI-BOW/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Anthus Category:Birds of South America Category:Birds described in 1878