Sprague'S Pipit

anthus spragueii

Sprague's Pipit is a small, elusive songbird that is often heard long before it is seen. Strongly tied to the native shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies of North America, this highly cryptic species is a master of camouflage. While grounded, they are notoriously difficult to spot, seamlessly blending into the dry vegetation of their habitat. However, during the breeding season, males transform from secretive ground-dwellers into spectacular aerial performers, ascending high into the sky to deliver an endless, cascading song. Sadly, their strict dependence on untouched native grasslands has made them a prominent conservation concern as agriculture and development continue to fragment their habitat.

生息地: Typically found in expansive, native shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies with moderate litter depth and little to no shrub cover.

外見

Sprague's Pipits are small, sparrow-sized birds with a highly cryptic plumage designed to blend into dry prairie grasses. They feature heavily streaked brown and buff upperparts, contrasting with relatively pale, whitish underparts that have fine, distinct blackish streaking on the breast. Their faces show a plain expression with large, dark eyes surrounded by a prominent pale eye-ring. Their legs are relatively long and pale pinkish-brown, suited for walking rather than hopping, and their thin, pointed bill is typical of insectivorous songbirds. When flushed into flight, white outer tail feathers are visibly contrasting against the rest of their dark tail.

界Animalia門Chordata綱Aves目Passeriformes科Motacillidae属Anthus

Sprague'S Pipit

カテゴリ

鳥類

レア度

Common

危険度

1/5 · 非常に低い

スナップ

最初にスナップしよう！

おもしろい事実

A male Sprague's Pipit holds the record for the longest known flight display of any bird species, with one individual recorded singing in the air for 3 hours without landing.

Because they are so incredibly hard to spot on the ground, early ornithologists and birders affectionately dubbed them 'the bird that sings high in the sky.'

They are notoriously picky about their real estate, almost exclusively breeding in native prairie grasses and routinely abandoning areas that have been seeded with introduced, non-native grasses.

When flushed from the grass, a Sprague's Pipit will rarely fly to a nearby fence or bush; instead, it typically flies high into the air in an undulating pattern or drops straight back down into the grass to hide.

特殊能力

Males can sing continuously while hovering high in the air for up to three hours, which is the longest known flight display of any bird.

Their heavily streaked brown and buff plumage perfectly mimics the shadows and textures of dry prairie grasses, making them nearly invisible to predators.

Unlike many small songbirds that hop, Sprague's Pipits exclusively walk or run along the ground to navigate dense prairie vegetation efficiently.

サイズと詳細

長さ: 15-17 cm
翼開長: 25-28 cm
体重: 0.022-0.026 kg
寿命: 2-5 年
一度の産卵数: 3-6
抱卵期間: 11-15 日
渡りの距離: 2500 km

食性と食事

They primarily consume terrestrial arthropods during the summer breeding season, supplementing their diet with grass and weed seeds during migration and winter.

年齢による違い: Nestlings are fed exclusively a diet of soft-bodied insects like caterpillars and small grasshoppers.

主な食物

Grasshoppers
Crickets
Beetles
Caterpillars
Weed seeds

採餌方法

Foraging

生態系とのつながり

eaten by

Northern Harrier

Circus hudsonius

Harriers patrol the low prairie grasses, acting as a natural predator of adult pipits and their fledglings.

parasite

Brown-headed Cowbird

Molothrus ater

Cowbirds are brood parasites that occasionally lay their eggs in the pipit's well-hidden ground nests.

hunts

Differential Grasshopper

Melanoplus differentialis

An important high-protein insect food source for adult pipits and their growing chicks during the breeding season.

特徴

このオブジェクトにはまだ特徴バッジが割り当てられていません。

別名

まだ別名はありません。

コレクション

テーマが追加されると、このオブジェクトのコレクションがここに表示されます。

安全性

危険度

1/5 · 非常に低い

まだ特別な安全上の注意はありません。

よくある質問

Sprague'S Pipitを見分けるには？

Sprague'S Pipitを識別する最も簡単な方法は、Snappit自然識別アプリを使用することです。

Sprague'S Pipitの長さは何ですか？

15-17 cm

Sprague'S Pipitの翼開長は何ですか？

25-28 cm

Sprague'S Pipitの体重は何ですか？

0.022-0.026 kg

Sprague'S Pipitの寿命は何ですか？

2-5 年

Sprague'S Pipitは何を食べますか？

They primarily consume terrestrial arthropods during the summer breeding season, supplementing their diet with grass and weed seeds during migration and winter.

Sprague'S Pipitは通常どこに生息していますか？

Typically found in expansive, native shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies with moderate litter depth and little to no shrub cover.

Sprague'S Pipitはどのように狩りをしますか？

Foraging