doug_newman
Well-known member
Hi all.
Just a quick question. I want to start brushing up on my European birds.
When it comes to Pipits in Southern Africa, they are all highly variable and truth be told, although a lot of people talk about the characteristics of various feather tracts as a means of ID, you cannot use plumage reliably on Southern African species except maybe to narrow down to a smaller set of species.
All the colour of the lower mandible is also variable with some birds seen with a yellowish lower mandible and others of the same species showing pinkish and worse, the same bird seeming to change between yellowish and pinkish depending on the angle and nature of prevailing light.
SO!! In a Southern African context at any rate, the vast majority of Pipits are best identified using behavior (tail wagging/tail pumping behavior and the way they forage - pecking and walking style etc).
Has anyone done any work on the behavioral aspect of Pipits in Europe?
I have bought a few books on Birds of Britain and Europe and do not really see anything of that nature mentioned in any of the books?
Just a quick question. I want to start brushing up on my European birds.
When it comes to Pipits in Southern Africa, they are all highly variable and truth be told, although a lot of people talk about the characteristics of various feather tracts as a means of ID, you cannot use plumage reliably on Southern African species except maybe to narrow down to a smaller set of species.
All the colour of the lower mandible is also variable with some birds seen with a yellowish lower mandible and others of the same species showing pinkish and worse, the same bird seeming to change between yellowish and pinkish depending on the angle and nature of prevailing light.
SO!! In a Southern African context at any rate, the vast majority of Pipits are best identified using behavior (tail wagging/tail pumping behavior and the way they forage - pecking and walking style etc).
Has anyone done any work on the behavioral aspect of Pipits in Europe?
I have bought a few books on Birds of Britain and Europe and do not really see anything of that nature mentioned in any of the books?
