perilous pipits

Buffy Pipit is one of a quartet of widespread and common South African pipit species whose identification local birders need to master if they want to progress through the twitching ranks

- DAVID ALLAN

The other three are the African (previously known as Grassveld), Nicholson’s (aka Long-billed) and Plain-backed pipits, the first of which is particularly ubiquitous. Traditionally the first step in sorting these four pipits is to note if the upperparts are marked or plain, and one species even takes its common name from this key feature. African and Nicholson’s pipits have mottled or streaked upperparts, whereas those of Buffy and Plain-backed pipits are unmarked. The identification can then be refined bringing a suite of other features to bear, such as size, overall plumage hue, the colour of the lower mandible and outer tail feathers, the relative length of the hind claw, the posture and gait, vocalisations, and habitat and distribution. But pipit identification can be a rocky shoreline upon which many birding reputations have wrecked.