Hellmayr’s Pipit (Anthus hellmayri)

Identification & Behavior: ~14 cm (5.5 in). The Hellmayr’s  Pipit has brownish-gray upperparts streaked and mottled with dusky. It has a rudimentary pale malar stripe. The breast, sides of the belly, and flanks are streaked with dusky. The belly is whitish. The tail is all gray-brown with only a pale or brown outer webbing on the outermost pair of tail feathers. The legs are pink. It forages on open areas of humid grass and shrubbery near the treeline. It overlaps geographically with the Paramo Pipit, which is tawny with dusky streaking restricted to the breast.

Status: The Hellmayr’s Pipit is uncommon in humid grasslands near the tree line on the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 2450 – 3350 m. It also occurs in Br, Bo, and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Cachirla de Hellmayr.

Sub-species: Hellmayr’s Pipit (Anthus hellmayri hellmayri), E. Hartert, 1909.

Meaning of Name: Anthus: Gr. Myth. Anthos= small, brightly coloured bird mentioned by Aristotle. hellmayri: In honor of Carl Eduard Hellmayr (1878-1944) Austrian and US ornithologist.

See more of the Family Motacillidae