The Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) is a slender pipit of forest edges and clearings, one of Sweden's most widespread birds, found from Skåne all the way to the mountain birch forest of the far north. It measures 14–16 cm, has a wingspan of about 25–27 cm and weighs 20–26 grams. The upperparts are olive-brown with dark streaking, and the underside is yellowish-white with a warm beige wash across the breast, where coarse streaking fades toward the flanks; compared with the very similar Meadow Pipit it looks warmer and cleaner overall, with a stronger bill and shorter hind claw, though the two are most reliably separated by call and behaviour.
That behaviour is unmistakable: the male rises singing from a treetop, then glides back down on stiffly spread wings and tail in a distinctive "parachute flight," delivering a powerful, melodious song throughout. Its contact call is a sharp, somewhat harsh "spiz," clearly different from the Meadow Pipit's thinner, repeated "ist-ist-ist." A pronounced long-distance migrant, the Tree Pipit arrives in April and May from wintering grounds in Africa south of the Sahara and parts of southern Asia, settling into semi-open terrain — clearcuts, forest edges and glades, and birch forest near the treeline — wherever scattered taller trees offer a singing post, and the Swedish population runs into the millions, classified as Least Concern. The nest is a well-hidden grass-lined scrape on the ground, often beside a tussock or under low herb cover, where the female lays four to six eggs incubated for 12–14 days; chicks are fed by both parents and leave the nest after just over a week, before they can properly fly. Insects, larvae and spiders picked from the ground and low vegetation make up the summer diet, with small seeds added in late summer and autumn.
Read about this species in Swedish →