Latin name - Anthus pratensis

An innocuous small, brown streaky bird the Meadow Pipit is often first noticed by its display flight and high piping call. It's display flight consists of rising upwards in a fluttering ascent, and then parachuting back down again on half spread wings. Male and female Meadow Pipits are alike with grey to olive brown upperparts, pale grey or buff coloured underparts and streaks and spots on the breast and flanks. Meadow Pipits are ground nesting birds breeding in open country moors, heathland, meadows and coastal fringes. Both the nest and the birds are very hard to spot amongst the vegetation despite being one of the most common songbirds in the United Kingdom. They feed mainly on beetles, flies, spiders and moths but will occasionally take seeds especially in autumn and winter. Mainly resident they move off the upland moors to lowland areas during winter, often moving south although some will migrate to Spain, Portugal and northern Africa.