Anthus godlewskii
Silhouette: Susan Murphy (original photograph), T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
Blyth's pipit (Anthus godlewskii) is a medium-sized passerine bird which breeds in Mongolia and neighbouring areas of China, Tibet and India. It is a long distance migrant moving to open lowlands in Southern Asia. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
This is a large pipit, but is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below. It is very similar to Richard's pipit, but is slightly smaller, shorter legs and a shorter dark bill. Its flight is strong and direct, and it gives a characteristic "pshee" call, higher pitched than Richard's.
In south Asia, in winter some care must be taken to distinguish this from other large pipits which winter or are resident in the area, including Richard's. This species is insectivorous. This bird was named after the English zoologist Edward Blyth. The genus name Anthus is the Latin name for a small bird of grasslands. The specific godlewskii commemorates Polish nobleman and field naturalist Victor Godlewski.
Heard, Chris (1995) Unravelling the mystery Birdwatch 41:20-24 Page, Doug (1997) From the Rarities Committee's files: problems presented... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 2 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulaanbaatar | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 2 | Kathmandu | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Dhaka | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 6 | Pune | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kolkata | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Chennai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Beijing | 🇨🇳 China |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blyth's Pipit sighting in Kozhikode on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 175th most-seen of the 229 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blyth's Pipit in Kozhikode on a given day, against under 5% in November to September, the lowest months. That is one of Kozhikode's wettest months, with about 250 mm of rain against 5 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blyth's Pipit sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 12
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Blyth's Pipit sightings, Kozhikode ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia, about 10%), Kathmandu (Nepal, under 5%) and Vasai-Virar (India, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blyth's Pipit is recorded against all the birds logged in Kozhikode (16 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
