The Tawny Pipit walks through dry, open country and searches for food on the ground.
Its pale, sandy plumage blends into sparsely vegetated ground.
Tawny Pipits are critically endangered in Central Europe. Researchers studied the last remaining population in Czechia, in an active brown-coal mining area. During four breeding seasons—2015, 2016, 2017, and 2021—they recorded songs at two mines and compared vocal patterns from 101 males and females.
Songs from all 101 birds were individually distinct, and most birds used one song type. Three males used two. Among 45 ringed males that could be identified visually, only two showed some change in song structure within or between seasons. The results support acoustic individual monitoring as a non-invasive way to study the behavior and ecology of this small, isolated population.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In the last remaining Tawny Pipit population in Czechia, songs from all 101 study birds were individually distinct. Only two of 45 visually identifiable ringed males showed some change in song structure. The study supports acoustic individual monitoring as a non-invasive method for studying the behavior and ecology of this isolated population.