Montana Field Guide

Sprague's Pipit - Anthus spragueii

The adult Sprague's Pipit is a pale, slender, sparrow-sized bird with white outer tail feathers, a thin bill, pale legs, and a heavily streaked back. Adults reach a length of 6.5 inches (16.5 cm), with a wingspan of 10 inches (25.4 cm), and a weight of 23.7 to 24.0 grams. The sexes are alike. The sides of the head and indistinct buffy eye-rings are pale. The lores contrast with dark brown eyes and the ear coverts are plain brownish-buff, usually with a slight reddish tinge. The crown, sides and rear of neck are buffy with sharply defined black streaks. The back is light sandy-brown with broad black streaks, with a paler more prominent buffy stripe down each side. The wings, 7.7 to 8.5 cm long, have blackish-brown feathers with whitish to buffy-brown edging, and two whitish wing bars. The rump and upper tail coverts, paler than the back, are sandy-brown with narrow black streaks. The blackish-brown feathers of the tail have buffy edging and the outer two pairs of feathers are white. The breast is a bright dark buff with a necklace of narrow black streaks. The flanks are brownish-buff and without streaks. The legs of the adults are pale brown, flesh or yellowish-brown, while they are pinkish in the juveniles (Godfrey 1966, Maher 1979, King 1981, Robbins and Dale 1999).

On the ground, the bird is extremely secretive and flies away in a long, undulating flight when approached. It walks instead of hops and usually only lands on the ground. The bird is most easily detected by its unique flight song given high overhead (as high as 75 meters); a high-pitched, thin "jingling" sound that can continue for as long as an hour (Peterson 1980, King 1981). Johnsgard (1986) notes that the species' spectacular circular song-flight display around its territory, during which its white outer tail feathers are conspicuously spread, compensates for its particularly inconspicuous plumage.

The buffy-brown back with blackish streaking, white wing bars, dark streaked crown, and pale legs distinguish this pipit from the American Pipit, the other species with whom its plumage is most similar (Robbing and Dale 1999, Sibley 2000). Additional characteristics identifying Sprague's Pipit include pale buffy to whitish ear coverts, extensive white on the outer tail feathers, a pale lower mandible, a darker upper mandible, and a diagnostic single-syllable, squeaky, quick call (Robbins and Dale 1999, Sibley 2000). While the Sprague's Pipit is a species of the prairie, the American Pipit typically favors wetter areas and perches more conspicuously (on fences, telephone wires, and treetops) than the Sprague's (Robbins and Dale 1999).

Montana Range

The Sprague's Pipit arrives in Montana in early May and breeds shortly thereafter. Records indicate eggs are present in May at Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge (1997; Montana Bird Distribution 2003). Fall migration begins at the end of August. Few records exist for the species in Montana outside of the May to August time period. The extreme migration dates for the species are April (Roosevelt County) and October (Still Water County) and are represented by only two records (Montana Bird Distribution 2003).

An endemic grassland bird, the Sprague's Pipit prefers native, medium to intermediate height prairie (Casey 2000) and in a short grass prairie landscape, can often be found in areas with taller grasses (Samson and Knopf 1996). The Sprague's Pipit is significantly more abundant in native prairie than in exotic vegetation (Dechant et al. 2001). Dechant (2001) also notes that the species has been shown to be area sensitive, requiring relatively large areas of appropriate habitat; the minimum area requirement in a Saskatchewan study was 190 hectares (470 acres). This pipit is also known to utilize and breed in alkaline meadows and around the edges of alkaline lakes (Johnsgard 1986).

No information on food habits for Sprague's Pipit exists for Montana. However, studies of Sprague's Pipit outside Montata state the primary summer food item is insects, while seeds are consumed during the fall and winter. The Sprague's Pipit is a ground forager. Adults eat a variety of seeds and insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, ants, weevils, stink bugs and caterpillars (Bent 1950). A Manitoba study revealed that nestlings were fed grasshoppers, crickets and moths (Harris 1933) while in an Alberta study, the items of choice for nestlings were grasshoppers, leafhoppers, caterpillars and ants (Maher 1979).

No ecological information exists for Sprague's Pipit in the state. Other studies indicate small territories in presumably good habitat are on the order of 1 hectare in size (Robbins and Dale 1999). Brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds is documented in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where rates of parasitism ranged from zero to 25 percent (Dechant et al. 2001).

Active Sprague's Pipit nests have been recorded from May through August, with clutch sizes ranging from 3 to 6. Egg dates are probably similar to those for North Dakota: June 7 to 30. The species breeds regularly at Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge in Phillips County, locations in Valley and Sheridan counties, and regularly in other counties in the eastern portion of the state with appropriate mixed-grass habitat (Montana Bird Distribution 2003). In other portions of its range, studies indicate the nests are located in depressions in the ground and concealed in clumps of grass (Terres 1980). They are constructed entirely of dead grass, and woven in a circular arrangement; no lining is present (Roberts 1932, Bent 1950). Some nests are partially or completely arched over with dead grasses anchored to the surrounding vegetation. In Manitoba, a nest was built in a depression that was much larger than the nest itself and the extra space was filled with dead grass (Harris 1933). The interior of this nest measured three inches (7.6 cm) in diameter and was 1.5 inches (3.5 cm) deep. Nests are difficult to find, and females do not flush from the nest until they are almost stepped on. Nestlings are altricial and downy.

The eggs are a dull grayish-white with little or no gloss and are speckled with spots or blotches of purplish-brown, with the markings being more numerous at the large end. The average measurement of 44 eggs from various locations was 20.9 by 15.3 mm (Bent 1950). Clutch size is usually four or five eggs; occasionally three to six eggs. The incubation period is unknown, but the Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) in Europe has an incubation period of 13 to 14 days (Bent 1950), and the Sprague's Pipit's is presumed to be of similar duration (Baicich and Harrison 1997).

There seems to be a period of inactivity between an active period of breeding behavior in late April to early June and a late period from mid-July through early September (Stewart 1975). Therefore, although it has never been documented, Sprague's Pipits may raise two broods of young a year.

The female did all of the brooding and feeding of the nestlings in a nest in Manitoba (Harris 1933). These nestlings stayed in the nest 10 or 11 days and when they left, they were not able to fly and had difficulty standing upright. The male may do most of the feeding of the young after they leave the nest, especially in the early part of the breeding season (Harris 1933). In Saskatchewan, the dates that young leave the nest range from the end of May to the middle of August, with the median date occurring at the end of June (Maher 1979).

No management activities in Montana specific to Sprague's Pipit are documented. They are a Species of Management Concern in Region 6 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1995).