pipit

American  

[pip-it] / ˈpɪp ɪt /

noun

1. any of several small songbirds of the genus Anthus, of the family Motacillidae, resembling the larks in coloration, structure, and habits.

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pipit British  

/ ˈpɪpɪt /

noun

1. Also called: titlark.  any of various songbirds of the genus Anthus and related genera, having brownish speckled plumage and a long tail: family Motacillidae

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Etymology

Origin of pipit

First recorded in 1760–70; imitative

Example Sentences

It was a meadow pipit, a protected bird in China, and an important "indicator species" - that means if its numbers are thriving, so is its environment.

From BBC • Dec. 28, 2025

“Where along that full life cycle both in time and space are these birds suffering the most?” says Andy Boyce, a research ecologist at the Smithsonian’s Migratory Bird Center who studies the Sprague’s pipit.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 25, 2023

The group labeled “insect eaters” combines many species because the numbers for individual species were too small to show separately as shown for the meadow pipit and willow grouse, which are both highly abundant.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

It was true that there were extraordinary birds to be seen, not just penguins but oddities like the snowy sheathbill and the world’s southernmost-breeding songbird, the South Georgia pipit.

From The New Yorker • May 23, 2016

The scene of the tragedy was the nest of a pipit, or titlark, on the ground beneath a heather-bush.

From My Studio Neighbors by Gibson, William Hamilton