Michael:

I haven't noticed an response to your question about American Pipit
plumages, so I'll give an answer since this is a species I study. The short
of it is that Peterson is correct and the Golden guide is wrong. Birds seen
on the summer,alpine breeding grounds usually are more buffy (or pink or
orange) and have less dark streaking on the breast than the birds seen in
winter (actually, after the postnuptial=prebasic molt, which is completed
by mid-September). Summer birds also have grayer upperparts.

After the postnuptial molt, upperparts are distinctly browner, underparts
have heavier (wider) dark streaks, and the background color of the
underparts averages whiter, less buffy, but there is much individual
variation at all times of year. Newly fledged birds have even heavier
streaks. Other good illustrations are the photos in the Audubon Society
Master Guide to Birding, vol. 3 (1983): page 81 for breeding plumage and
page 79 for fall (winter) plumage, the photos in the Stokes Western Field
Guide (1996) page 390, and the two color plates in Ben King's 1981 article
"The identification of North American pipits" in American Birds 35(5):
778-788. Regarding the latter article, Ken Parkes' made some additional
comments and refinements in 1982 in American Birds 36(1): 20-22.

In summer, females on average have slightly heavier streaking than males
(but not as heavy as the juveniles), but the range of variation is so great
in each sex, with much overlap between the sexes, that the most that can be
said is that those with no steaking are probably males and those with very
heavy streaking are more likely to be females.

There are also regional (subspecies) differences. Those in the Rocky Mtns
(e.g. Glacier National Park, Montana; subspecies alticola) average more
richly colored (ie. buffier, more orange) below with less heavy streaking
on the breast than birds in the Cascades (subspecies pacificus) which are
whiter beneath and quite heavily streaked.

Richard E. Johnson
Department of Zoology
Washington State University
johnsonre at wsu.edu




>Hi Tweets,
>
>I noticed a conflict last night between two of my field guides. The
>Peterson guide shows the American Pipit as having a streaked breast in
>winter and a solid buffy color in the summer. My Golden Guide says the
>exact opposite.
>
>Which one is right? I have found mistakes in the Peterson (merlin
>subspecies are incorrectly labeled) but in this instance, I don't have
>any other books that would tell me which pipits are in breeding plumage,
>and which are not.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Michael Dossett
>Bothell, Washington
>mpdossett at juno.com
>
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