Short-billed pipit

Photo by Roberto Maisonnave (Aves Uruguay)

Common name:
short-billed pipit (en); caminheiro-de-unha-curta (pt); pipit à plastron (fr); bisbita piquicorto (es); weißbauchpieper (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Motacillidae

Range:
This species is found in Peru, Bolivia, northern and central Argentina, Uruguay and marginally into south-eastern Brazil.

Size:
These birds are 14-14,5 cm long and weigh 20 g.

Habitat:
The short-billed pipit is found in pastures and puna grasslands, from sea level up to an altitude of 4.000 m.

Diet:
They forage on the ground, taking larval and adult insects, such as grasshoppers, butterflies and flies, and other invertebrates, but also eat some seeds.

Breeding:
Short-billed pipits breed in September-February. The nest is a cup made of gasses, placed on the ground well concealed among the vegetation. There the female lays 3-4 buffy white eggs with brown spots, which she incubates alone for 12-13 days. The chicks are mainly fed by the female , fledging 12-13 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status – LC (Leat Concern)
This species ha a very large breeding range and is described as fairly common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.