Species Spotlight-Rock Pipit

It was January 1997 and a group of sea watchers had taken up their positions in the hide at the North End of Hilbre. One less than intrepid soul decided it was lunch time, a decision which outraged his fellows as it was only 11.15, and proceeded to eat his sandwiches. He threw the final piece of crust out of the hide onto the ground below. Moments later a Rock Pipit appeared and ate the bread. For the rest of the month and into February the same basic trick was tried and the Rock Pipit always obliged by turning up and consuming the bread. This splendid little bird appears to fit an ecological niche somewhere between waders like Turnstones on the one hand and passerines like Meadow Pipits on the other. It feeds on the rocky shore like the Turnstone and on the grass next to the cliffs like the Meadow Pipit. It is a Hilbre speciality and a favourite with regular visitors

Identification

The Rock Pipit, Anthus Petrosus, has 2 sub-species, petrosus (the British Sub Species) and littoralis (Fenno-Scandia, Northern Russia), which could visit Hilbre. The 2 sub species are inseparable in Autumn but may be separable in Spring.

The key points for identifying a Rock Pipit are:

1 Very dark bird, coloured grey rather than brown or olive, heavily streaked in Autumn/Winter.

2 The legs are dark.

3 The bird has a narrow but complete eye ring.

4 The bird does not have much of a supercilium.

5 The bird is perhaps 20% larger than a Meadow Pipit

6 If the bird flies, the outer tail feathers should appear pale grey rather than white.

7 The call is a loud and strong development of the Meadow Pipit call.

Some of these features are illustrated in the picture.

In the Spring the race littoralis can look creamy buff on the underparts which can be streaked reddish pink. However, a pink-looking bird in Spring should be checked carefully for a distinct supercilium - as that would be a Water Pipit (Anthus Spinoletta) a much rarer bird on Hilbre.

Occurrence on Hilbre

Rock Pipits have been recorded on Hilbre in every month of the year except June and July. This is from observatory records, which started in 1957. The best time to see Rock Pipits on Hilbre is mid Autumn through to the end of Winter. They can often be located in flight by their distinctive call but they are easiest to find feeding on the rocks at the north end of the island or on the rocks by the road at the south west corner. Rock Pipits are thought to defend a feeding territory in Winter consequently a diligent search of both Middle Eye and the Main Island could turn up a bird. There is a passage of birds in Spring and Autumn but finding them is much more a question of luck/timing at that time, whereas they are resident in Winter.

Breeding

There have been no breeding records for Rock Pipits on Hilbre since the 1939/45 war. Eric Hardy recorded a bird feeding young in May 1940. There are records from as early as 1858 sighted by Coward and Oldham but in recent times the nearest Rock Pipits have bred to Hilbre is Angelsey in the West and Cumbria in the North. There could be many reasons for this ranging from (a) the simple - they have bred occasionally but nobody has found them, through to (b) the interesting – it is the Scandinavian race which Winters here, to (c) the complex – a combination of environmental factors conspiring against successful breeding at Hilbre.