Anthus rubescens
Silhouette: Susan Murphy (original photograph), T. Michael Keesey (vectorization) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The American pipit (Anthus rubescens), formerly known as the buff-bellied pipit, is a small songbird native to North America. It was first described by Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771 Ornithologia Britannica. It was formerly classified as a form of the water pipit. The former subspecies, Siberian pipit, is now considered a distinct species.
Like most other pipits, the American pipit is an undistinguished-looking species which usually can be seen to run around on the ground. It has lightly streaked grey-brown upperparts and is diffusely streaked below on the buff breast and flanks. The belly is whitish, the bill and legs are dark. The related Siberian pipit is darker above and has bolder black streaking on its whiter underparts; its legs have a reddish hue. The call is a squeaky sip.
Measurements: Length: 16 cm Weight: 22 g Wingspan: 24 cm The scientific name is from Latin. Anthus is the name for a small bird of grasslands, and the specific rubescens means "reddish", from ruber, "ruddy". Three subspecies are currently recognized: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an American Pipit sighting in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, based on 168 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 115th most-seen of the 197 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Pipit in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–August and November–March, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American 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.
22nd of 39
Of the 39 parks where we can rate American Pipit sightings, Yellowstone National Park ranks 22nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Death Valley National Park (United States, about 30%), Rocky Mountain National Park (United States, about 10%) and Glacier National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the American Pipit that you can see in Yellowstone National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Common Raven (about 80%), American Robin (about 70%) and Yellow-rumped Warbler (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Pipit is recorded against all the birds logged in Yellowstone National Park (168 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
