New Zealand pipit

This is the New Zealand pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), which is a bit smaller than a song thrush, about 16-19 cm long compared to the thrush’s 20-24 cm. Pipits belong to a family of birds called wagtails, because they kind of wag their tails as they walk. Numbers in New Zealand are over 100,000 but they seem to be declining. Pipits prefer being out in the open and are found from coasts up to alpine areas. They can be confused with the introduced skylark, which also prefers open habitats. Pipits are more strongly striped, and the dark stripe through the eye generally distinguishes it from the skylark.