PIPITS (AND SKY LARK)

At-a-glance ID guide to UK birds

Meadow Pipit

● Small pipit

● Well streaked brown back

● White/ochre below; even black streaks

● Plain ‘face’; pale eye-ring

● Thin, weak, pale bill

● Orange/pink legs & feet

Tree Pipit

● Small pipit

● Well ell streaked brown back

● White/ochre below; streaks finer on flanks

● ‘Face’: dark eyestripe, pale spot on ‘cheek’

● Stronger pale bill than Meadow

● Orange/pink legs & feet

Rock Pipit

● Large pipit

● Plain, olive-grey back

● Variable below; lots of smudgy streaks

● Plain dark ‘face’; dark lores, pale eye-ring

● Strong, largely dark bill

● Dark legs & feet

Tree Pipit (winter)

● Large pipit

● Plain, grey-brown back

● White below; few fine black streaks

● Pale supercilium (‘eyebrow’); dark lores

● Strong dark/pale bill

● Dark legs & feet

Sky Lark

● Large and chunky lark

● Spotted/streaked brown back

● Streaked breast (faint on flanks)

● Erectile crest, pale supercilium

● Thicker bill than pipits

● Orange/pink legs & feet