Scientific name: Anthus petrosus (Montagu, 1798)
Bird group: Pipits
Field characters. 17 cm. Larger than Meadow Pipit and much darker. Legs dark. Plumage in winter darker than other pipits, with dark grey-brown head and back, heavily spotted and streaked with black and with rather inconspicuous supercilium. Breast with yellow, golden or olive wash, heavily spotted with marks extending onto flanks and upper belly. Undertail coverts washed olive or greyish white. In summer plumage dark olive grey, less dark than in winter, supercilium more obvious and buff or pinkish breast less spotted or even without spots. Tail dark, with edges of outer tail feathers usually grey. British race petrosus does not obtain an obvious summer plumage, looking more or less the same throughout the year.
Voice. Call like Water Pipit but slightly louder and longer; song similar to Water Pipit.
Distribution. Common in summer along coasts of Scandinavia, British Isles and NW France.
Habitat. Along rocky shores.
Food. Mainly invertebrates.