Anthus australis
Silhouette: Susan Murphy (original photograph), T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The Australian pipit (Anthus australis) is a fairly small passerine bird of open country in Australia and New Guinea. It belongs to the pipit genus Anthus in the family Motacillidae. It is a slender bird, 16 to 19 cm long, and weighs about 40 grams. The plumage is pale brown above with dark streaks. The underparts are pale with streaks on the breast. There is a pale stripe over the eye and dark malar and moustachial stripes. The long tail has white outer-feathers and is often wagged up and down. The legs are long and pinkish-brown while the bill is slender and brownish.
It has a sparrow-like chirruping call and a drawn-out tswee call. The Australian pipit was formerly grouped with other pipits as Richard's pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae. This species was split into Richard's, African, Mountain, Paddyfield and Australasian pipits. Many authors further split the Australasian pipit into two species: Australian pipit (Anthus australis) in Australia and New Guinea and New Zealand pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) in New Zealand.
A number of subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Island National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Freycinet National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Pipit sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 287 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 141st most-seen of the 236 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.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Pipit in Melbourne on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Australian Pipit sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Australian Pipit sightings, Melbourne ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Brisbane (Australia, under 5%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Australian Pipit that you can see in Melbourne (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Australian Magpie (about 90%), Noisy Miner (about 80%) and Little Raven (about 80%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Australian Pipit is recorded against all the birds logged in Melbourne (287 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.
