The Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) is the dark pipit of the coast, living year-round in the rocky shore zone and identified most reliably by its dark grey, almost blackish legs, which set it apart from the Meadow Pipit's paler, flesh-coloured legs. At around 16–17 cm long with a wingspan of 23–28 cm and a weight of 20–30 g, it is somewhat stouter and darker than its relatives, with a dark olive-brown upperside showing diffuse, indistinct streaking and a dirty grey-white underside heavily streaked on the breast and flanks. The eyebrow stripe is faint and greyish, and the outer tail feathers are grey-toned rather than pure white — overall the impression is of a dark, stocky, somewhat heavy pipit. Its call is a simple but forceful "tsiip", coarser and more emphatic than the Meadow Pipit's thinner note, and the song is delivered in a characteristic display flight, the male rising from a rock or cliff ledge before parachuting down on stiff, spread wings with a series of even notes ending in a weak trilling fall.
The species breeds along Swedish coasts, with its stronghold in Bohuslän and along the archipelagos of the east coast, where the population is estimated at 10,000–30,000 pairs and classed as stable and Least Concern. It is tied almost entirely to bare rocky shores, skerries and harbour environments and rarely ventures inland. The bowl-shaped nest is hidden in a rock crevice, under a tussock, or among seaweed and drift material near the water, holding 4–6 eggs raised by both parents. Rock Pipits feed on insects, small crustaceans, midges and other invertebrates picked from among seaweed and stones in the shore zone — seaweed banks are a vital food source year-round, and as a short-distance migrant, some birds remain along the coast through winter.
Read about this species in Swedish →