Meadow or Tree Pipit
Not great photos but confirmation would be appreciated
According to a recent article on Birding Frontiers British Breeding Meadow Pipits do not have a supercilium a Tree Pipit does have a noticeable supercilium.
It is not entirely true to say that British breeding Meadow Pipits do not have a supercilium at this time of year. It is fairer to say that Meadow might have a faint supercilium. I have attached a photo of a Meadow Pipit taken at Cley on 10th May 2013 and it is a definite Meadow Pipit as it was calling and other features clearly support it as a Meadow Pipit. The photos on this thread are of Meadow Pipit as the large pale unbroken eye-ring is not shown by any Tree Pipits and the flank streaks are too heavy for a Tree Pipit. I also don't see an obvious supercilium so that would again support Meadow Pipit.
Cheers
Roy
Hi Roy,
Can you rule out a migrant Meadow Pipit going up to Scandanavia or further East, as Wheatear migrants are still moving through at the end of May.
John
JHD, It's a bog-standard Mipit.
I'd be very surprised if Martin said UK Meadow Pipits have no supercilium - Icelandic birds tend to have stronger supers than UKbirds, but Meadows are amazingly variable. The montage below has Meadows facing one way and Trees the other. Meadows tend to look "gormless", with an unbroken eye ring. Trees tend to have a stronger eye-stripe which breaks the eye ring, shorter stronger bills and when present the pale patch on the rear of the ear coverts is a give away.
Pipit spp, Worlds End , Wales ,UK , in May
JHD, It's a bog-standard Mipit.
The article on Birding frontiers doesn't actually say that British meadow pipits don't have a supercilium. It says - and sincere apologies if copying and pasting is against the rules:
These birds are good contenders for Icelandic Mipits. My ringing work has focussed on autumn birds (when they’re easy to catch). At that time of year I consider a yellowish wash to the upperparts along with a nice clear supercilium to be diagnostic of “non-British” birds.
So Clive Mackay considers a nice clear super would indicate a non british bird. That indicates to me that British birds can have a super, just a less 'nice and clear' one.
Also, I'm not really sure why we're discussing this as the bird is a clear meadow pipit.