Water Pipit

Anthus spinoletta

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Bisbita alpino

Photograph: Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0, vía Wikimedia Commons

Length: 17 cm
Weight: 23 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce winter visitor to wetlands.

Identification

In winter plumage it is similar to a Meadow Pipit but whiter underparts with more distinct stripes and supercilium. Paler than a Rock Pipit, with whiter wing-bars and tail-sides. Breeding plumage displays pinkish underparts with streaked flanks, grey head and brown mantle.

Movements

The first birds arrive towards the end of October and stay until the beginning of April. Peaks in 2nd hf. March and 1st hf. December.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

24 %

Peak in January. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 28 March 1978
Latest record: 28 October 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: NT · Near threatened · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Euroasian Rock Pipit17–17 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size
Tawny Pipit16.5–16.5 cm · Seasonal
Tree Pipit15–15 cm · Migrant
Meadow Pipit14.5–14.5 cm · Seasonal
Richard´s Pipit18–18 cm · Occasional

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Motacillidae
GBIF taxon key: 2490255

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0, vía Wikimedia Commons
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Water Pipit

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Gallery