Overlooked pipit

The water pipit is one of those unobtrusive birds that has, in the past, tended to be overlooked by birdwatchers. The main reason for this was that the water pipit was not recognised as a full species until 1986. Prior to this date it was widely regarded as being a race of the rock pipit, also a local bird within the UK. In fact the relationships between the two species, together with another – the buff-bellied pipit – had been the subject of a great deal of discussion and some controversy. Subtle differences in plumage, behaviour and habitat use hinted that these three pipits were separate species but there was no definitive proof. Fortunately, analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences have revealed the degree of separation between the three birds and now most authors treat them as distinct species.

Water pipits are scarce winter visitors to Norfolk, with fewer than a hundred birds thought to be present within the county in any given year. They do not breed here but arrive from breeding grounds that are thought to lie in the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, Jura and the Alps. While their cousin the rock pipit is a bird of the rocky coast, the breeding water pipit is a bird of the mountains. The association with water suggested in the name, comes from the habitats used by the species during the winter. Here the bird prefers to feed on areas of lowland wet grassland, brackish lagoons, along river banks and at sewage works, where it takes insects and a small amount of plant material. In such habitats the species may be seen feeding alongside the more familiar meadow pipit.

Finding and identifying water pipits can involve a degree of patience, especially when they are feeding within rough vegetation. Slightly larger than a meadow pipit, they usually (though not always) show dark legs – meadow pipits always have pale legs. The upperparts are grey-brown in winter and lack the olive-green tinge often seen in meadow pipits. The rump and back are unpatterned. Separation from rock pipit is more difficult and the flight calls of the two species are indistinguishable. It is even possible to confuse the flight calls of water and meadow pipits though, to my ear, that of the water pipit is higher in pitch, less resonant and not as short or rich in structure.

Norfolk holds wintering water pipits at a number of regular sites. Perhaps the most dependable are Buckenham Marsh, Hickling and Strumpshaw, though Lakenheath Fen seems to have been well used over recent winters. The water pipits, which arrive here in late October, will remain through into March, when numbers may peak, so why not see if you can spot one.