page_title: Eurasian rock pipit
section_title: Breeding
hierarchical_section_title: Eurasian rock pipit / Behaviour / Breeding
caption_attribution_description: English: Eurasian rock pipit Anthus petrosus , egg, Coll. Museum Wiesbaden cropped from Commons file File:Anthus petrosus MWNH 1589.JPG Deutsch: Strandpieper Anthus petrosus , Ei, Coll. Museum Wiesbaden
context_page_description: The Eurasian rock pipit, or just rock pipit, is a species of small passerine bird that breeds in western Europe on rocky coasts. It has streaked greyish-brown upperparts and buff underparts, and is similar in appearance to other European pipits. There are three subspecies, of which only the Fennoscandian form is migratory, wintering in shoreline habitats further south in Europe. The Eurasian rock pipit is territorial at least in the breeding season, and year-round where it is resident. Males will sometimes enter an adjacent territory to assist the resident in repelling an intruder, behaviour only otherwise known from the African fiddler crab.
  Eurasian rock pipits construct a cup nest under coastal vegetation or in cliff crevices and lay four to six speckled pale grey eggs which hatch in about two weeks with a further 16 days to fledging. Although insects are occasionally caught in flight, the pipits feed mainly on small invertebrates picked off the rocks or from shallow water.
context_section_description: The Eurasian rock pipit is highly territorial in the breeding season, and throughout the year where it is resident. Breeding males have a song display in which they fly to 15–30 metres (49–98 ft) above the ground, then circle or descend to the ground with a fluttering "parachute" flight. Territorial males will sometimes enter the territory of an adjacent male to cooperate in evicting an intruder. This behaviour, which requires the ability to distinguish the resident from the intruder, is only otherwise known from the African fiddler crab.
  Eggs are laid from early to mid-April in Britain and Ireland, from mid-May in southern Scandinavia, and from June in the north. The nest is always close to the shore, in a cliff crevice or hole, or under the cover of vegetation. It is constructed by the female from seaweed and dead grass, and lined with finer fibres or hair.
  The clutch is four to six eggs, glossy pale grey with darker grey or olive speckles mainly at the wider end. They measure 21.6 by 16.0 millimetres (0.85 in × 0.63 in) and weigh 2.7 grams (0.095 oz), of which 5% is shell. They are incubated for 14–16 days to hatching, almost entirely by the female, although males have been recorded as occasionally helping. The naked altricial chicks are brooded by the female and fledge in about 16 days. Both parents may feed the chicks for several days after fledging. There may be two broods in a year in the south of the pipit's range, and just one further north.
  In a British survey, a hatching rate of 82% and a fledging rate of 78% gave an overall 58% nesting success, with an average 2.5 surviving young per pair. In contrast, a study in northwestern France found juvenile mortality was nearly 70%. The average lifespan is not recorded, although the maximum recorded age is 10.9 years.
caption: The bird lays four to six speckled pale grey eggs which hatch in about two weeks
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