{"id":96866,"date":"2021-11-02T06:26:52","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T12:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=96866"},"modified":"2022-05-26T09:54:42","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T15:54:42","slug":"american-pipits-aka-buff-bellied-pipits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/02\/american-pipits-aka-buff-bellied-pipits\/","title":{"rendered":"American Pipits – AKA Buff-bellied Pipits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit on a large wooden post \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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. Either I can’t get close to them soon enough to take high quality images of them or they have been too far away. I love hearing their soft calls<\/span><\/a> while they are on the wing though and sometimes that is enough for me.<\/p>\n

Last year I was able to take several photos of this American Pipit at Farmington Bay WMA as it perched on a large wooden post and a few more when it took off and then landed on a barbed wire fence.<\/p>\n

In North America we call these birds American Pipits. In Europe and Asia they are called Buff-bellied Pipits.<\/p>\n

American Pipits do breed in Utah yet I rarely see them during their breeding season. I often see and hear large flocks of these pipits during fall and spring migration plus a few that stick around through the coldest months of winter.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit with a raised foot \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This American Pipit was photographed in October of 2019 at Farmington Bay WMA. I had quite a few of these pipits in my viewfinder that morning.<\/p>\n

I have been hoping to have a few American Pipits in my viewfinder when I have gone to Bear River MBR and Farmington Bay WMA this fall but so far I’ve had to enjoy them from a distance. Another great place to find and photograph American Pipits in northern Utah during the fall is on the rocks and shoreline of the Great Salt Lake from the causeway to Antelope Island. The last time I was out on the island I saw and heard pipits but I was unable to stop and photograph them.<\/p>\n

I adore the way these pipits bob their tails up and down almost continuously as they walk around on the ground. That makes me giggle too.<\/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 since around the end of September but so far this year I haven’t been able to photograph even one of these birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[2400,4655,970,6096,4620,10011,4094,5475,4895,7813,4470,4018,4095,8917],"class_list":["post-96866","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-american-pipit","tag-anthus-rubescens","tag-autumn","tag-buff-bellied-pipit","tag-fall","tag-foot","tag-marsh","tag-pipit","tag-pipits","tag-raised-foot","tag-rocks","tag-sky","tag-wetlands","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pcm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":117509,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/26\/autumn-american-pipit-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":96866,"position":0},"title":"Autumn American Pipit Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Monday I took my first autumn American Pipit photos of 2023 while I was on the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I was so happy.","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 roadside grasses, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-pipit-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-pipit-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-pipit-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-pipit-in-autumn-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41952,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/12\/american-pipits-at-farmington-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":96866,"position":1},"title":"American Pipits at Farmington Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"American Pipits will soon be migrating through the Salt Lake Valley and I will hear their flight calls along the causeway to Antelope Island and the fields at Farmington Bay WMA.","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 at sunrise, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4115.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-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4115.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4115.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4115.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48532,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/19\/american-pipits-on-the-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":96866,"position":2},"title":"American Pipits On The Rocks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 standing tall, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-standing-tall-mia-mcpherson-5327.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-standing-tall-mia-mcpherson-5327.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-standing-tall-mia-mcpherson-5327.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-standing-tall-mia-mcpherson-5327.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":96866,"position":3},"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":137026,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/17\/my-first-american-pipit-sighting-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":96866,"position":4},"title":"My First American Pipit Sighting At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I had my first American Pipit sighting at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. There were quite a few pipits in plowed fields on both sides of the road.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffy American Pipit, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-pipit-barbed-wire-mia-mcpherson-3305.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-pipit-barbed-wire-mia-mcpherson-3305.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-pipit-barbed-wire-mia-mcpherson-3305.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-pipit-barbed-wire-mia-mcpherson-3305.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97921,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/05\/american-pipits-in-my-viewfinder\/","url_meta":{"origin":96866,"position":5},"title":"American Pipits In My Viewfinder","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been seeing and hearing American Pipits since the end of September but this was the first time this fall I was able to get close to 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":"Relaxed American Pipit on a rock, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-pipit-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-7792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-pipit-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-7792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-pipit-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-7792.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-pipit-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-7792.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\/96866","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=96866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}