Sprague's Pipit - Anthus spragueii
Species of Concern
Global Rank:
G4
State Rank:
S3B
Agency Status
USFWS:
C
USFS:
BLM:
SENSITIVE
FWP Conservation Tier:
2
PIF:
1
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Copyright by: The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, all rights reserved.
General Description
The adult Sprague's Pipit is a pale, slender, sparrow-sized bird with white outer tail feathers, a thin bill, pale legs, and a heavily streaked back. Adults reach a length of 6.5 inches (16.5 cm), with a wingspan of 10 inches (25.4 cm), and a weight of 23.7 to 24.0 grams. The sexes are alike. The sides of the head and indistinct buffy eye-rings are pale. The lores contrast with dark brown eyes and the ear coverts are plain brownish-buff, usually with a slight reddish tinge. The crown, sides and rear of neck are buffy with sharply defined black streaks. The back is light sandy-brown with broad black streaks, with a paler more prominent buffy stripe down each side. The wings, 7.7 to 8.5 cm long, have blackish-brown feathers with whitish to buffy-brown edging, and two whitish wing bars. The rump and upper tail coverts, paler than the back, are sandy-brown with narrow black streaks. The blackish-brown feathers of the tail have buffy edging and the outer two pairs of feathers are white. The breast is a bright dark buff with a necklace of narrow black streaks. The flanks are brownish-buff and without streaks. The legs of the adults are pale brown, flesh or yellowish-brown, while they are pinkish in the juveniles (Godfrey 1966, Maher 1979, King 1981, Robbins and Dale 1999).
On the ground, the bird is extremely secretive and flies away in a long, undulating flight when approached. It walks instead of hops and usually only lands on the ground. The bird is most easily detected by its unique flight song given high overhead (as high as 75 meters); a high-pitched, thin "jingling" sound that can continue for as long as an hour (Peterson 1980, King 1981). Johnsgard (1986) notes that the species' spectacular circular song-flight display around its territory, during which its white outer tail feathers are conspicuously spread, compensates for its particularly inconspicuous plumage.
Diagnostic Characteristics
The buffy-brown back with blackish streaking, white wing bars, dark streaked crown, and pale legs distinguish this pipit from the American Pipit, the other species with whom its plumage is most similar (Robbing and Dale 1999, Sibley 2000). Additional characteristics identifying Sprague's Pipit include pale buffy to whitish ear coverts, extensive white on the outer tail feathers, a pale lower mandible, a darker upper mandible, and a diagnostic single-syllable, squeaky, quick call (Robbins and Dale 1999, Sibley 2000). While the Sprague's Pipit is a species of the prairie, the American Pipit typically favors wetter areas and perches more conspicuously (on fences, telephone wires, and treetops) than the Sprague's Pipit (Robbins and Dale 1999).
General Distribution
Summary of Observations Submitted for Montana
Number of Observations: 3348
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
Breeding
(direct evidence "B")
Breeding
(indirect evidence "b")
No evidence of Breeding
(transient "t")
Overwintering
(regular observations "W")
Overwintering
(at least one obs. "w")
(Records associated with a range of dates are excluded from time charts)
Migration
The Sprague's Pipit arrives in Montana in early May and breeds shortly thereafter. Records indicate eggs are present in May at Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge (Lenard et al. 2003). Fall migration begins at the end of August. Few records exist for the species in Montana outside of the May to August time period. The extreme migration dates for the species are April (Roosevelt County) and October (Still Water County) and are represented by only two records (Lenard et al. 2003).
Habitat
An endemic grassland bird, the Sprague's Pipit prefers native, medium to intermediate height prairie (Casey 2000) and in a short grass prairie landscape, can often be found in areas with taller grasses (Samson and Knopf 1996). The Sprague's Pipit is significantly more abundant in native prairie than in exotic vegetation (Dechant et al. 2001). Dechant (2001) also notes that the species has been shown to be area sensitive, requiring relatively large areas of appropriate habitat; the minimum area requirement in a Saskatchewan study was 190 hectares (470 acres). This pipit is also known to utilize and breed in alkaline meadows and around the edges of alkaline lakes (Johnsgard 1986).
Ecological Systems Associated with this Species
- Details on Creation and Suggested Uses and Limitations
How Associations Were Made
We associated the use and habitat quality (high, medium, or low) of each of the 82 ecological systems mapped in Montana for
vertebrate animal species that regularly breed, overwinter, or migrate through the state by:
- Using personal observations and reviewing literature that summarize the breeding, overwintering, or migratory habitat requirements of each species (Dobkin 1992, Hart et al. 1998, Hutto and Young 1999, Maxell 2000, Foresman 2001, Adams 2003, and Werner et al. 2004);
- Evaluating structural characteristics and distribution of each ecological system relative to the species’ range and habitat requirements;
- Examining the observation records for each species in the state-wide point database associated with each ecological system;
- Calculating the percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system to get a measure of “observations versus availability of habitat”.
Species that breed in Montana were only evaluated for breeding habitat use, species that only overwinter in Montana were only evaluated for overwintering habitat use, and species that only migrate through Montana were only evaluated for migratory habitat use.
In general, species were associated as using an ecological system if structural characteristics of used habitat documented in the literature were present in the ecological system or large numbers of point observations were associated with the ecological system.
However, species were not associated with an ecological system if there was no support in the literature for use of structural characteristics in an ecological system,
even if point observations were associated with that system.
High, medium, and low habitat quality was assigned based on the degree to which the structural characteristics of an ecological system matched the preferred structural habitat characteristics for each species in the literature.
The percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system was also used to guide assignments of habitat quality.
If you have any questions or comments on species associations with ecological systems, please contact Bryce Maxell at
bmaxell@mt.gov or (406) 444-3655.
Suggested Uses and Limitations
Species associations with ecological systems should be used to generate potential lists of species that may occupy broader landscapes for the purposes of landscape-level planning.
These potential lists of species should not be used in place of documented occurrences of species (this information can be requested at:
http://mtnhp.org/requests/default.asp) or systematic surveys for species and evaluations of habitat at a local site level by trained biologists.
Users of this information should be aware that the land cover data used to generate species associations is based on imagery from the late 1990s and early 2000s and was only intended to be used at broader landscape scales.
Land cover mapping accuracy is particularly problematic when the systems occur as small patches or where the land cover types have been altered over the past decade.
Thus, particular caution should be used when using the associations in assessments of smaller areas (e.g., evaluations of public land survey sections).
Finally, although a species may be associated with a particular ecological system within its known geographic range, portions of that ecological system may occur outside of the species’ known geographic range.
Literature Cited
- Adams, R.A. 2003. Bats of the Rocky Mountain West; natural history, ecology, and conservation. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado. 289 p.
- Dobkin, D. S. 1992. Neotropical migrant land birds in the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. USDA Forest Service, Northern Region. Publication No. R1-93-34. Missoula, MT.
- Foresman, K.R. 2001. The wild mammals of Montana. Special Publication No. 12. Lawrence, KS: The American Society of Mammalogists. 278 p.
- Hart, M.M., W.A. Williams, P.C. Thornton, K.P. McLaughlin, C.M. Tobalske, B.A. Maxell, D.P. Hendricks, C.R. Peterson, and R.L. Redmond. 1998. Montana atlas of terrestrial vertebrates. Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT. 1302 p.
- Hutto, R.L. and J.S. Young. 1999. Habitat relationships of landbirds in the Northern Region, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station RMRS-GTR-32. 72 p.
- Maxell, B.A. 2000. Management of Montana’s amphibians: a review of factors that may present a risk to population viability and accounts on the identification, distribution, taxonomy, habitat use, natural history, and the status and conservation of individual species. Report to U.S. Forest Service Region 1. Missoula, MT: Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana. 161 p.
- Werner, J.K., B.A. Maxell, P. Hendricks, and D. Flath. 2004. Amphibians and reptiles of Montana. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. 262 p.
Food Habits
No information on food habits for Sprague's Pipit exists for Montana. However, studies of Sprague's Pipit outside Montata state the primary summer food item is insects, while seeds are consumed during the fall and winter. The Sprague's Pipit is a ground forager. Adults eat a variety of seeds and insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, ants, weevils, stink bugs and caterpillars (Bent 1950). A Manitoba study revealed that nestlings were fed grasshoppers, crickets and moths (Harris 1933) while in an Alberta study, the items of choice for nestlings were grasshoppers, leafhoppers, caterpillars and ants (Maher 1979).
Ecology
No ecological information exists for Sprague's Pipit in the state. Other studies indicate small territories in presumably good habitat are on the order of 1 hectare in size (Robbins and Dale 1999). Brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds is documented in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where rates of parasitism ranged from zero to 25 percent (Dechant et al. 2001).
Reproductive Characteristics
Active Sprague's Pipit nests have been recorded from May through August, with clutch sizes ranging from 3 to 6. Egg dates are probably similar to those for North Dakota: June 7 to 30. The species breeds regularly at Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge in Phillips County, locations in Valley and Sheridan counties, and regularly in other counties in the eastern portion of the state with appropriate mixed-grass habitat (Lenard et al. 2003). In other portions of its range, studies indicate the nests are located in depressions in the ground and concealed in clumps of grass (Terres 1980). They are constructed entirely of dead grass, and woven in a circular arrangement; no lining is present (Roberts 1932, Bent 1950). Some nests are partially or completely arched over with dead grasses anchored to the surrounding vegetation. In Manitoba, a nest was built in a depression that was much larger than the nest itself and the extra space was filled with dead grass (Harris 1933). The interior of this nest measured three inches (7.6 cm) in diameter and was 1.5 inches (3.5 cm) deep. Nests are difficult to find, and females do not flush from the nest until they are almost stepped on. Nestlings are altricial and downy.
The eggs are a dull grayish-white with little or no gloss and are speckled with spots or blotches of purplish-brown, with the markings being more numerous at the large end. The average measurement of 44 eggs from various locations was 20.9 by 15.3 mm (Bent 1950). Clutch size is usually four or five eggs; occasionally three to six eggs. The incubation period is unknown, but the Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) in Europe has an incubation period of 13 to 14 days (Bent 1950), and the Sprague's Pipit's is presumed to be of similar duration (Baicich and Harrison 1997).
There seems to be a period of inactivity between an active period of breeding behavior in late April to early June and a late period from mid-July through early September (Stewart 1975). Therefore, although it has never been documented, Sprague's Pipits may raise two broods of young a year.
The female did all of the brooding and feeding of the nestlings in a nest in Manitoba (Harris 1933). These nestlings stayed in the nest 10 or 11 days and when they left, they were not able to fly and had difficulty standing upright. The male may do most of the feeding of the young after they leave the nest, especially in the early part of the breeding season (Harris 1933). In Saskatchewan, the dates that young leave the nest range from the end of May to the middle of August, with the median date occurring at the end of June (Maher 1979).
Management
On September 14, 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the Sprague’s Pipit warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act, but that listing the species under the Act is precluded by the need to address other listing actions of a higher priority. Additional information on the species' management can be found on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Species AccountReferences
- Additional ReferencesLegend:
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American Ornithologists' Union. 1983. Check-list of North American birds, 6th ed. Amer. Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.- American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. 7th edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. 829 pp.
- Baicich, P. J., and C. J. O. Harrison. 1997. A guide to the nests, eggs and nestlings of North American birds. Second edition. Academic Press, New York.
- Bent, A.C. 1950. Life histories of North American wagtails, shrikes, vireos, and their allies. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 197. Washington, D.C.
- Berkey, G. B. 1983. Mixed prairie IV. American Birds 37:82.
- Berkey, G. B. 1983. Mixed prairie II. American Birds 37:81.
- Casey, D. 2000. Partners in Flight Bird Conservation Plan Montana Version 1.0. Montana Partners in Flight. Kalispell, Montana.
- Casey, D. 2000. Partners in Flight Draft Bird Conservation Plan Montana. 281 pp.
- U.S. Forest Service. 1991. Forest and rangeland birds of the United States: Natural history and habitat use. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Agricultural Handbook 688. 625 pages.
- Dobkin, D.S. 1994. Conservation and management of neotropical migrant landbirds in the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. Univ. Idaho Press, Moscow, Idaho. 220 pp.
- Dobkin, D. S. 1992. Neotropical migrant landbirds in the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. U.S.D.A. For. Serv. N. Region Publ. R1-93-34. Missoula, Mont.
- Ehrlich, P., D. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The Birder’s Handbook, A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. Simon and Schuster Inc. New York. 785 pp.
- Faanes, C. A. 1982. Avian use of Sheyenne Lake and associated habitats in central North Dakota. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Resource Publication No. 144.
- Faanes, C.A. 1983. Breeding birds of wooded draws in western North Dakota. Prairie Nat. 15: 173-187.
- Godfrey, W. Earl. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
- Harris, C. G. 1983. Speargrass-junegrass-alkali mixed prairie. American Birds 37:80.
- Harris, R. D. 1933. Observations on a nest of Sprague's pipit (ANTHUS SPRAGUEII). Canadian Field-Naturalist 47:91-5.
- Johnsgard, P.A. 1979. Birds of the Great Plains: breeding species and their distribution. Univ. Nebraska Press, Lincoln. 539 pp.
- Johnsgard, P. A. 1986. Birds of the Rocky Mountains with particular reference to national parks in the Northern Rocky Mountain region. Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder. xi + 504 pp.
- Johnson, D.H., L.D. Igl, J.A. Dechant, M.L. Sondreal, C.M. Goldade, M.P. Nenneman, and B.R. Euliss. 1998. Effects of management practices on grassland birds: Sprague's pipit. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND. 10 pp.
- Kantrud, H. A. 1981. Grazing intensity effects on the breeding avifauna of North Dakota native grasslands. Can. Field-Nat. 95:404-417.
- Kantrud, H.A. and R.L. Kologiski. 1982. Effects of soils and grazing on breeding birds of uncultivated upland grasslands of the northern Great Plains. U.S.D.I., Fish and Wildl. Serv., Wildl. Res. Rep. 15. 33 pp.
- Lenard, S., J. Carlson, J. Ellis, C. Jones, and C. Tilly. 2003. P. D. Skaar's Montana Bird Distribution, 6th Edition. Montana Audubon: Helena, MT, 144 pp.
- Madden, E.M. 1996. Passerine communities and bird-habitat relationships on prescribe-burned, mixed-grass prairie in North Dakota. M.S. thesis, Montana State Univ., Bozeman. 153 pp.
- Maher, W.J. 1979. Nestling diets of prairie passerine birds at Matador, Saskatchewan, Canada. Ibis 121:437-452.
- Martin, B. H., and S. Boczkiewicz. 1993. Baird's sparrow and Sprague's pipit population and habitat monitoring at Conservancy preserves in North Dakota. Rodney Johnson Grant Report. 13 pp.
- McConnell, S. D., R. Van den Driessche, T. D. Hooper, G. L. Roberts, and A. Roberts. 1993. First occurrence and breeding of Sprague's Pipit, Anthus spragueii, for British Columbia. Canadian Field-Naturalist 107:222-223.
- Owens, R.A. and M.T. Myres. 1973. Effects of agriculture upon populations of native passerine birds of an Alberta fescue grassland. Can. J. Zool. 51: 697-713.
- Peterson, R.T. 1980. A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America. Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston, MA.
- Robbins, M. B., and B. C. Dale. 1999. Sprague's Pipit (ANTHUS SPRAGUEII). No. 439 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 16pp.
- Roberts, T. S. 1932. The Birds of Minnestoa. Vol. 2. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 821 pp.
- Salt, W.R. and J.R. Salt. 1976. The birds of Alberta. Hurtig Publishers, Edmonton, Alberta. xv + 498 pp.
- Saunders, A.A. 1914. The birds of Teton and northern Lewis and Clark counties, Montana. Condor 16: 124-144.
- Stewart, R.E. 1975. Breeding birds of North Dakota. Tri-College Center for Environmental Studies, Fargo, North Dakota. 295 pp.
- Sutter, G. C. 1997. Nest-site selection and nestentrance orientation in Sprague’s Pipit. Wilson Bulletin 109:462-469.
- Terres, J.K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1109 pp.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Migratory Bird Management. 1995. Migratory nongame birds of management concern in the United States: the 1995 list. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1996-404-911/44014. 22 pp.
- Wilson, S.D. and J.W. Belcher. 1989. Plant and bird communities of native prairie and introduced Eurasian vegetation in Manitoba, Canada. Conserv. Biol. 3: 39-44.
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