On Wed, 2 Aug 1995 EKVan at aol.com wrote:

> I'm still confused by the American/Water Pipit issue. Peterson West (1990)
> and NG (1987) list only the American (Anthus rubescens). Audubon (1977) and
> Golden (1983) list only the Water (A. spinoletta). Birds of Europe with N.
> Africa and the Middle East (Jonsson 1993) lists both, but calls the American
> a Buff-bellied. Does anyone really know which one we have here?

The two were formally subspecies groups of the Water Pipit (A.
spinoletta) but Russian studies in the Trans-Baikal region of the former
Soviet Union revealed that two subspecies nested close together without
interbreeding. They thus passed the test of sympatry which makes them
biological species. Russian check-lists, such as the one by Stepanian,
listed them as separate and the AOU followed. Actually I was the one who
alerted the AOU to the Russian literature, so you can blame me if you
want.

The correct name for the American bird is A. rubescens, the American Pipit
according to the AOU. Europeans didn't like that English name because
American Pipit breeds in Asia all the way to Lake Baikal. Thus it is not
strictly American at all. In the breeding season, American Pipits have
buffy underparts which distinguish them from their Eurasian counterpart
(now called Water Pipit). The name Buff-bellied Pipit was coined by the
brilliant Swedish birder, Per Alstrom who is working on a book on Pipits
of the World, as a better descriptive name for American Pipit.

But if you want to be understood in this country, I'd call it "American
Pipit."

By the way, the vocalizations of Water Pipit are quite different from
American Pipit. Also, American Pipit (of the race A. r. japonica) occur
regularly in the Middle East (Israel) and are vagrants to Europe.

----------
Joe Morlan
Albany, CA
jmorlan at slip.net