Tree pipit
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Stylized small bird (about 15 cm or 6 in) with long tail and legs. Very striated, brown upperparts; very striped, clear underparts, with a characteristic yellowish or orange cream background on the breast and flanks. It exhibits a clear eyebrow and a thin black moustachial stripe on the face. Very similar to the Meadow Pipit, of which it is distinguished above all by the habitat that it uses and by some details in the bill, the nails and the plumage.
Where it lives
The Tree Pipit is a forest bird (which distinguishes it from other pipits) that uses mainly wooded countryside, pastures with scrub and bushes and cleared forests. It prefers humid and not very sunny areas. During the migration this bird appears in lowlands and fluvial courses near the coast.
How it lives
Species present in the province only during its migratory passages. This pipit is a long-distance migrant that hibernates south of the Sahara. It breeds from April. Nest on the ground. Two layings of 4 to 6 eggs. Insectivore that forages especially on the ground, pecking leaf litter.
Where it can be seen in Malaga
Frequently observable in the province during the migratory passages, moments in which it prefers farmlands, plains and humid zones or riversides. The Tree Pipit can be watched especially in the plain of the Guadalhorce river, between Álora and Campanillas, and in the mouth of the same river (stages 34 and 35 of the Great Path). There are also observations in the lower courses of other coastal rivers of the Costa del Sol
Curious facts
For Pliny, pipits (name in Latin "Anthus", who was the son of Antinous, killed by his father's horses and metamorphosed into a bird linked to the pastures used by these animals) were small birds of grassland. All pipit species preferably use flat and open areas. However, the Tree Pipit breeds in lush forests and frequently perches on trees and shrubs, a rare occurrence among these birds.