Kingdom: Animalia.
Phylum: Chordata.
Class: Aves.
Order: Passeriformes.
Family: Motacillidae.
Genus: Anthus.
Species: Anthus novaeseelandiae.
Subspecies: Anthus novaeseelandiae. novaeseelandiae - North, South and Stewart Islands. Birds on the North Island are sometimes treated as a separate subspecies A. n. reischeki).
Anthus novaeseelandiae. aucklandicus - Auckland Islands & Campbell Islands
Anthus novaeseelandiae.chathamensis - Chatham Islands
Anthus novaeseelandiae. steindachneri - Antipodes Islands
Common names: New Zealand pipit, New Zealand lark, Australasian pipit, Pipit, pīhoihoi, Richard's pipit.
The New Zealand pipit has a dark stripe across the eye, below a prominent pale eyebrow. Its upper body plumage has contrasting shades of brown, edged with pale buff. They are like a skylark in appearance but more slender. They are 19cm long and weigh about 40 gm.
Anthus novaeseelandiae species are found north from Manawatu Estuary, Great Barrier and Alderman Islands. west of the Southern Alps, Stewart Island, Codfish Island, on Snares Island. Pipits live in open country from the alpine zone down to sea level.
For more information on the New Zealand pipit visit http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/new-zealand-pipit
The photo below is of an Anthus novaeseelandiae aucklandicus on Enderby Island, Subantarctic.
Photo courtesy of Tamzin Henderson@ https://www.tamzinnz.com/
Anthus novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae ( North, South and Stewart Islands)
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
