Editing Water pipit (section)

{{Short description|Species of passerine bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{featured article}}
{{Speciesbox
| name              = Water pipit
| status            = LC
| status_system     = IUCN3.1
| status_ref        = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Anthus spinoletta'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22718571A131988012 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22718571A131988012.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| image             = Anthus spinoletta - Water Pipit, Kahramanmaraş 2016-11-18 01-10.jpg| image_caption = ''Anthus spinoletta spinoletta''
| genus             = Anthus
| species           = spinoletta
| authority         = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| range_map         = AnthusSpinolettaIUCNver2019 1.png
| range_map_caption = Range of ''A. spinoletta''{{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#008000|Resident|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FFFF|Passage|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}}
| synonyms          = *''Alauda spinoletta'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}
}}

The '''water pipit''' ('''''Anthus spinoletta''''') is a small [[passerine]] bird which breeds in the mountains of [[Southern Europe]] and the [[Palearctic]] eastwards to [[China]]. It is a short-distance [[bird migration|migrant]]; many birds move to lower altitudes or wet open lowlands in winter.

The water pipit in [[breeding plumage]] has greyish-brown upperparts, weakly streaked with darker brown, and pale pink-buff underparts fading to whitish on the lower belly. The head is grey with a broad white [[supercilium]] ("eyebrow"), and the outer tail feathers are white. In winter, the head is grey-brown, the supercilium is duller, the upperparts are more streaked, and the underparts are white, streaked lightly with brown on the breast and flanks. There are only minor differences among the three [[subspecies]], the sexes are [[Sexual monomorphism|almost identical]], and young birds resemble adults. The water pipit's song is delivered from a perch or in flight, and consists of four or five blocks, each consisting of about six repetitions of a different short note.

Water pipits construct a cup-like nest on the ground under vegetation or in cliff crevices and lay four to six speckled grey-ish white eggs, which hatch in about two weeks with a further 14–15&nbsp;days to [[fledge|fledging]]. Although pipits occasionally catch insects in flight, they feed mainly on small [[invertebrate]]s picked off the ground or vegetation, and also some plant material.

The water pipit may be hunted by [[bird of prey|birds of prey]], infested by parasites such as [[flea]]s, or act as an [[brood parasite|involuntary host]] to the [[common cuckoo]], but overall its population is large and stable, and it is therefore evaluated as a [[species of least concern]] by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN).