Editing European rock pipit (section)

==Taxonomy and systematics==
The family [[Motacillidae]] consists of the [[wagtail]]s, [[pipit]]s and [[longclaw]]s. The largest of these groups is the pipits in the [[genus]] ''Anthus'', which are typically brown-plumaged terrestrial [[insectivore]]s. Their similar appearances have led to [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] problems; the European rock pipit and the [[buff-bellied pipit]] were considered [[subspecies]] of the [[water pipit]] until they were separated by the [[British Ornithologists' Union]] in 1998.<ref name="hbwfamily">{{ cite book |last=Tyler |first=Stephanie |year=2004 |chapter=Family Motacillidae (Pipits and Wagtails) |editor1-last=del Hoyo |editor1-first=J. |editor2-last=Elliott |editor2-first=A. |editor3-last=Christie |editor3-first=D.A. |title=Handbook of the Birds of the World |volume=9: Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails |place=Barcelona, Spain |publisher=Lynx Edicions |isbn=978-84-87334-69-6 |pages=686–743}}</ref> The European rock pipit is closely related to the [[Meadow pipit|meadow]], [[Red-throated pipit|red-throated]] and [[rosy pipit]]s as well as its former subspecies.<ref name="hbw">{{cite journal |last=Tyler |first=Stephanie |editor1-last=del Hoyo |editor1-first=Josep |editor2-last=Elliott |editor2-first=Andrew |editor3-last=Sargatal |editor3-first=Jordi |editor4-last=Christie |editor4-first=David A. |editor5-last=de Juana |editor5-first=Eduardo |year=2020 |title=Rock Pipit (''Anthus petrosus'') |journal=Birds of the World |publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology |location=Ithaca, NY, US |doi=10.2173/bow.rocpip1.01 |s2cid=216195668}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Voelker |first=Gary |year=1999 |title=Molecular evolutionary relationships in the Avian genus ''Anthus'' (Pipits: Motacillidae) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=84–94 |doi=10.1006/mpev.1998.0555 |pmid=10082613|bibcode=1999MolPE..11...84V }}</ref>

The first formal description naming this species was by English [[Natural history|naturalist]] [[George Montagu (naturalist)|George Montagu]] in 1798.<ref name="montagu">{{cite journal |last=Montagu |first=George |title=Alauda Petrosa.—Rock Lark. |journal=Transactions of the Linnean Society of London |volume=4 |page=41 |year=1798 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/13714#page/50/mode/1up}}</ref> It had previously been described in 1766 by [[Thomas Pennant]], in the first edition of ''British Zoology'', although he did not distinguish it from the common titlark (meadow pipit). It was first shown to be different from that species by John Walcott in the 1789 edition of his ''Synopsis of British Birds'', in which he called it the sea lark. [[John Latham (ornithologist)|John Latham]] was the first to give the European rock pipit a scientific name, ''Alauda obscura'' in 1790,<ref name="Latham">{{cite journal |last1=Latham |first1=John |title=Index ornithologicus, sive, Systema ornithologiae : Complectens avium divisionem in classes, ordines, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates : Adjectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, &c |journal=Index Ornithologicus |date=1790 |volume=2 |page=494 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53509921 |access-date=2024-08-15}}</ref> but his name was an invalid [[homonym (biology)|homonym]], the same name being used a year earlier by [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]] for a different bird from Sardinia.<ref name="Gmelin">{{cite journal |last1=Gmelin |first1=Johann Friedrich |title=Caroli a Linné. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : Secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |journal=Systema Naturae |date=1789 |volume=1 |issue=2 |page=801 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25750179 |access-date=2024-08-15}}</ref> In the same year, Montagu, whom Latham had consulted about the bird, found European rock pipits on the coast of [[Wales|South Wales]], where it was known to some fishermen in the region as the "rock lark". He adopted that name for the species and gave it the scientific name ''Alauda petrosa''.<ref name="montagu" /><ref name="Yarrell 1874">{{cite book |last1=Yarrell |first1=William |author1-link=William Yarrell |last2=Newton |first2=Alfred |author2-link=Alfred Newton |year=1871–1874 |title=A History of British Birds |volume=1 |edition=4th |pages=586–591 |place=London |publisher=John Van Vorst |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8451084}}</ref>

The scientific name of the European rock pipit is from [[Latin]]. ''Anthus'' is the name given by [[Pliny the Elder]] to a small bird of grasslands, and the specific ''petrosus'' means "rocky", from ''petrus'', "rock".<ref name="job">{{cite book |last=Jobling |first=James A. |year=2010 |title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n49 49], 300}}</ref>

There are two recognised subspecies of the European rock pipit:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | year=2024 | title=Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waxbills/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=15 August 2024 }}</ref><ref name=Svensson>Svensson, L. (1992). ''Identification Guide to European Passerines''. British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford. {{ISBN|91-630-1118-2}}.</ref><ref name=Shirihai>{{Cite book|title=Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds, Volume 1: Passerines: Larks to Warblers|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|date=2018-08-27|isbn=978-1-4729-3758-2|language=en|first1=Hadoram|last1=Shirihai|first2=Lars|last2=Svensson}}</ref><ref name="migatlas">{{Cite book  | editor-last = Wernham  | editor-first = C. V. | editor2-last = Toms | editor2-first = M. P. | editor3-last = Marchant | editor3-first = J. H. | editor4-last = Clark | editor4-first = J. A. | editor5-last = Siriwardena | editor5-first = G. M. | editor6-last = Baillie | editor6-first = S. R. | title = The Migration Atlas: movements of the birds of Britain and Ireland | publisher = T. & A. D. Poyser | location = London, UK | year = 2002  | pages = 474–476 | isbn = 978-0-7136-6514-7}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable "
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! Image !! Subspecies !!  Distribution
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|[[File:Rock Pipit, Newquay, Cornwall (7503360536).jpg|120px]]||''Anthus petrosus petrosus'' (Montagu, 1798) – the [[Subspecies#Nominotypical subspecies and subspecies autonyms|nominate subspecies]] || breeds in the [[Faroe Islands]], [[Ireland]], [[Great Britain]], northwest [[France]] and the [[Channel Islands]]; non-migratory
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|[[File:Eurasian Rock Pipit, Helgoland 1.jpg|120px]] || ''Anthus petrosus littoralis'' [[Christian Ludwig Brehm|Brehm]], 1823 || breeds in [[Norway]], [[Denmark]], the [[Baltic Sea]] coasts, and far northwestern [[Russia]]; migratory, wintering on the coasts of western Europe from Scotland south to northwest Africa.
|-
|}

The suggested subspecies ''A. p. kleinschmidti'' on the Faroe Islands, Shetland, and Orkney, ''A. p. meinertzhageni'' on [[South Uist]], ''A. p. hesperianus'' on the [[Isle of Arran]], and ''A. p. ponens'' in northwestern France cannot be reliably separated from the nominate subspecies and are now included in it.<ref name=ioc/><ref name=Svensson/><ref name=Shirihai/> There is a geographical cline in appearance, with longer-billed, darker birds at the western end of the range, and shorter-billed, paler individuals in the east.<ref name="hbw" />