A small, slender and cryptically coloured bird, Blyth’s pipit (Anthus godlewskii) is named in honour of the English zoologist, Edward Blyth, a well-known contemporary of the eminent Charles Darwin (3). Blyth’s pipit is grey-brown above with streaks of blackish-brown, and is buff-coloured below, becoming more orange-buff on the flanks, with pronounced dark streaking on the upper breast. There is a creamy stripe that extends from the unmarked, pale area between the eye and the beak, towards the back of the head. A thin black streak extends backwards and downwards from the base of the bill, with a second broad, buff-coloured stripe just below. There is a narrow blackish stripe and patch on the cheeks.
The wing feathers are buff on the edges and tips, and each wing bears two pale, almost indistinct bars. The tail is blackish-brown, tinged reddish on the edges of the central pair of feathers and with the outer two pairs edged and tipped in buff. The legs are pale- or yellowish-pink, and the short, pointed bill is dark grey above and pinker with a darkish grey tip below. Blyth’s pipit produces a variety of calls, including several chup, chep or choop sounds, given in flight and often combined with a longer psheeu note (2).
- Length: 15 - 17 cm (2)
- 17 - 30.5 g (2)