{"id":48532,"date":"2017-09-19T05:23:12","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T11:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48532"},"modified":"2025-11-01T11:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T16:23:13","slug":"american-pipits-on-the-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/19\/american-pipits-on-the-rocks\/","title":{"rendered":"American Pipits On The Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit head turn in a stiff breeze – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve been hearing American Pipits on the wing for a while now and yesterday I was happy to photograph several pipits while they perched on some rocks in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

I usually hear American Pipits, Anthus rubescens<\/i>, before I see them. Because of their coloring it is easy to lose sight of these birds when they are on the ground because they blend in so easily but when they perch a bit higher they are easier to see.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit crouching on a rock – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

American Pipits prefer open country and during their breeding season can be found in alpine and arctic tundra or above the tree lines of tall mountains and during migration they prefer mudflats, plowed fields, marshes, coastal beaches and rivers.<\/p>\n

The pipits I photographed yesterday were feeding in a muddy field and when they perched on top of a pile of rocks I was able to get clear views of them.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit calling while perched on a rock – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The pipits caught my eyes because they were flying around, chasing each other, perching on the rocks with their tails bouncing up and down and calling<\/span><\/a> to each other.<\/p>\n

American Pipits are known as Buff-bellied and Water Pipits in Europe and Asia but their scientific name is Anthus rubescens<\/i> which is the correct scientific name for our American Pipit. I just wanted to clarify that.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit standing tall – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It was nice to have great, unobstructed views of the pipits on the rocks against a soft blue sky. When I took this photo the pipit seemed like it had its eye on something in the distance and was on alert.<\/p>\n

This pipit hung around long enough for me to take a nice series of images of it.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit close to the ground – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a few opportunities with the American Pipits to photograph them on the ground.<\/p>\n

In most of those photos the light angle was off and I didn’t get catch lights in their eyes but this one was close to being on the ground near a muddy field and it showed light in the eyes.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit perched on a white rock – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The pipits didn’t hang around for very long and before I knew it they took off to fly over the field calling as they went but even a few minutes with these subtle beauties is enough to delight me.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Pipit photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been hearing American Pipits on the wing for a while now and yesterday I was happy to photograph several pipits while they perched on some rocks in northern Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4654,27,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,2400,4655,970,6096,4072,4506,4620,6095,4094,4104,5475,4895,4470,6094,4896],"class_list":["post-48532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-pipits","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-pipit","tag-anthus-rubescens","tag-autumn","tag-buff-bellied-pipit","tag-calling","tag-crouching","tag-fall","tag-head-turn","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-pipit","tag-pipits","tag-rocks","tag-standing-tall","tag-water-pipit"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-standing-tall-mia-mcpherson-5327.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cCM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28640,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/27\/american-pipits\/","url_meta":{"origin":48532,"position":0},"title":"American Pipits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"American Pipits were known for a long time as Water Pipits because they feed at the edge of tundra puddles and wet alpine meadows.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit perched on some rocks at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-mia-mcpherson-9467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-mia-mcpherson-9467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-mia-mcpherson-9467.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-mia-mcpherson-9467.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96866,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/02\/american-pipits-aka-buff-bellied-pipits\/","url_meta":{"origin":48532,"position":1},"title":"American Pipits – AKA Buff-bellied Pipits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been hearing American Pipits since around the end of September but so far this year I haven't been able to photograph even one of these birds.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit on a large wooden post, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108427,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/02\/my-fondness-for-american-pipits\/","url_meta":{"origin":48532,"position":2},"title":"My Fondness For American Pipits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been almost exactly one year since I have taken high quality images of American Pipits. I have a fondness for these birds and I have missed them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipits on the rocks, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-pipit-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-pipit-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-pipit-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-pipit-on-the-rocks-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61094,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/31\/leaping-american-pipit-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","url_meta":{"origin":48532,"position":3},"title":"Leaping American Pipit At Farmington Bay WMA","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"With scores of pipits flying in, flying out and moving around on the rocks it was a challenge to decide which bird to have in my viewfinder.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Leaping American Pipit, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2468.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2468.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2468.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2468.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54441,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/05\/american-pipits-and-fall-migration\/","url_meta":{"origin":48532,"position":4},"title":"American Pipits and Fall Migration","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"American Pipits aren't flashy birds, in fact some people might think they are rather plain or dull colored. I am always happy to have them in my viewfinder and to hear their flight calls in the breeze.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit about to fluff its feathers, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2555.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2555.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2555.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2555.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66058,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/03\/american-pipits-in-sweet-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":48532,"position":5},"title":"American Pipits In Sweet Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These are a few of my favorite photos that I have taken of American Pipits. Ever. Part of the reason they are my favorites is because of the sweet morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit in golden light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2123.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2123.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}