Water Pipit
The water pipit (Anthus spinoletta) is a small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of Southern Europe and the Palearctic eastwards to China. It is a short-distance migrant; many birds move to lower altitudes or wet open lowlands in winter.
In Türkiye
Recorded year-round, with records rising clearly in winter.
Most records in March and November–January.
Provinces where it makes up the largest share of bird records.
Adjusted for how many birdwatchers are out each month; the busiest month = 100%.
7,851 records from Türkiye · #127 of 634 species by number of records. Source: GBIF.org (October 2026). All birds of Türkiye
About
The water pipit in breeding plumage has greyish-brown upperparts, weakly streaked with darker brown, and pale pink-buff underparts fading to whitish on the lower belly. The head is grey with a broad white supercilium ("eyebrow"), and the outer tail feathers are white. In winter, the head is grey-brown, the supercilium is duller, the upperparts are more streaked, and the underparts are white, streaked lightly with brown on the breast and flanks. There are only minor differences among the three subspecies, the sexes are almost identical, and young birds resemble adults. The water pipit's song is delivered from a perch or in flight, and consists of four or five blocks, each consisting of about six repetitions of a different short note.
Water pipits construct a cup-like nest on the ground under vegetation or in cliff crevices and lay four to six speckled grey-ish white eggs, which hatch in about two weeks with a further 14–15 days to fledging. Although pipits occasionally catch insects in flight, they feed mainly on small invertebrates picked off the ground or vegetation, and also some plant material.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
At a glance
The water pipit summers on high mountain meadows and descends to watersides in winter, changing plumage markedly.
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