Australian Pipit

Scientific name: Anthus australis
  • Author(s)
    Louise Carter, Melissa Murray
  • Updated
    05/08/26
  • Read time
    2 minutes
Australian Pipit (Anthus australis) Click to enlarge image
The Australian Pipit (Anthus australis) is a slender, streaky brown bird often seen walking on open ground, recognisable by its pale eyebrow stripe and long tail. Image: Erik
CC BY-NC 4.0

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Anthus
    Species
    australis
    Family
    Motacillidae
    Order
    Passeriformes
    Class
    Aves
  • Size Range
    Up to 18 cm

The Australian Pipit is a ground-dwelling bird found across Australia in habitats ranging from saltmarshes to dry shrublands. It's easily recognised by its streaked back, pale eyebrow stripea and pink-grey bill and legs.

Identification

Featuring darker brown streaks on its upperparts and pale creamy-white stripes above the eyebrows and below the cheeks, the Australian Pipit blends easily into grassy, open terrain. The underparts are creamy white, spotted and streaked dark on the breast, while the wings and tail are dark brown, with the outermost tail feathers white.

A small streaked brown and cream bird with a slender bill, perched on dried grass with a green grassy background.
The Australian Pipit (Anthus australis) is a slender, streaky brown bird often seen walking on open ground, recognisable by its pale eyebrow stripe and long tail. Image: dandm22
CC BY-NC 4.0

Habitat

The Australian Pipit favours open country, occupying a range of habitat types from saltmarshes to dry shrublands and open woodland clearings.

Distribution

Found across Australia

This map shows species occurrence observations from data recorded in the Atlas of Living Australia.

Feeding and diet

Their diet consists of insects and their larvae, as well as seeds. It forages in a jerky, darting motion, stopping to perch on low stones or shrubs, wagging its tail up and down.

Reproduction and life cycle

Breeding behaviours

Breeding pairs are formed after an elaborate courtship ritual, with males making swooping dives from a height, accompanied by a sweet trilling song. The nest is a depression in the ground, sometimes sheltered by a grass tussock, stone or piece of wood, and lined with grasses and hairs. The female incubates the eggs and feeds the young.