Olive-backed Pipit

Anthus hodgsoni Blackwelder, 1907

≈15 cmLength21 gWeight

It runs on the ground while foraging, flies into trees when alarmed, and has a white supercilium above the eye.

Busiest months: December–January and April · Most records: China, India, Thailand

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Upperparts greenish-brown with dark brown stripes
White supercilium and white stripes on both wings
Breast and flanks with dark brown stripes
Outermost tail feathers mostly white

Male, female and young

Sexes similar.

Voice

The song resembles that of Eurasian Skylark and is given in the air; it is similar to Tree Pipit's but faster and higher-pitched; single calls of “tseep” or “spek”.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: December–January and April · Most records: China, India, Thailand

Olive-backed Pipit has been recorded at 1,855 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 44 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Mai Po Nature ReserveHong Kong (China)1,872 records
Long ValleyHong Kong (China)1,000 records
Matsu – Dongyin Vegetable FarmChina994 records

More places

Kinmen – Botanical GardenChina840 records
Nandi HillsIndia829 records
Nanhui DongtanChina784 records
Doi Pha Hom Pok NP – Doi Lang (W), AKA Doi San JuThailand755 records
Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)648 records
Lam Tsuen ValleyHong Kong (China)632 records
Jinshan – Jinshan Youth Activity CenterTaiwan (China)600 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China India Thailand Nepal South Korea Japan Bhutan Vietnam

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The olive-backed pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) is a small passerine bird of the pipit (Anthus) genus, which breeds across southern, north central and eastern Asia, as well as in the north-eastern European Russia. It is a long-distance migrant moving in winter to southern Asia and Indonesia. Sometimes it is also called Indian pipit or Hodgson's pipit, as well as tree pipit owing to its resemblance with the tree pipit.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Olive-backed Pipit?

The Olive-backed Pipit is about ≈15 cm long and weighs around 21 g.

Where does the Olive-backed Pipit live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: western Russia to Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Kuril Islands (eastern Russia), northern Korean Peninsula and northern, central Japan; disjunctly in Himalayas to east-central China. It is most often recorded in China, India and Thailand.

When is the best time to see the Olive-backed Pipit?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in January, April and December (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Olive-backed Pipit endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Olive-backed Pipit as Least Concern.

What does the Olive-backed Pipit eat?

Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.

What family is the Olive-backed Pipit in?

It belongs to the family Wagtails, Pipits (Motacillidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length: ≈15 cm
Weight: 21 g
Habitat: Grassland
Diet: Insects & other invertebrates
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 81 mm
Tail: 58 mm
Bill: 14 mm
Tarsus: 20 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic: western Russia to Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Kuril Islands (eastern Russia), northern Korean Peninsula and northern, central Japan; disjunctly in Himalayas to east-central China

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 2

Anthus hodgsoni hodgsoni Himalayas to ec China, n Korean Pen. (race?), Hokkaido (race?) and Honshu (n, c Japan) | non-breeding: Himalayas through se Asia, se China and c Honshu through Ryukyu Is. (Japan) and Philippines
Anthus hodgsoni yunnanensis nw Russia to Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Kuril Is. (e Russia) s to n Mongolia and ne China | non-breeding: s, se Asia to Philippines