| 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. Their nest and themselves 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. |
