CreatureData

Sprague's pipit

Anthus spragueii (Audubon, 1844)

VUVulnerablesongbirds

The sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii) is a species in the family Motacillidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 22.8 g to 25.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii)
Photo: logan kahle · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the sprague's pipit

Weight
22.8 g – 25.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the sprague's pipit live?

Not recorded

What is the sprague's pipit?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii) is a small songbird (passerine) in the family Motacillidae that breeds in the short- and mixed-grass prairies of North America. Migratory, it spends the winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Sprague's pipits are unusual among songbirds in that they sing high in the sky, somewhat like a goldfinch or skylark. It is more often identified by its distinctive descending song heard from above than by being seen on the ground. Males and females are cryptically coloured and similar in appearance; they are a buffy brown with darker streaking, slender bills and pinkish to yellow legs. Sprague's pipit summer habitat is primarily native grasslands in the north central prairies of the United States and Canada (distinguishing them from the American subspecies of the buff-bellied pipit, which breed in the northern Rocky Mountains and the Arctic). The species was named after the botanical illustrator Isaac Sprague.

From the Wikipedia article “Sprague's pipit” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sprague%27s_pipit&oldid=1380705863), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the sprague's pipit endangered?

The sprague's pipit is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.

How is the sprague's pipit classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyMotacillidae
  6. genusAnthus
  7. SpeciesAnthus spragueii (Audubon, 1844)

Synonyms Alauda spragueii, Anthus spraguei

Other names and names in other languages (35)
  • جشنة سبارجArabic
  • piula de SpragueCatalan
  • linduška prérijníCzech
  • corhedydd SpragueWelsh
  • PræriepiberDanish
  • PräriepieperGerman
  • preria pipioEsperanto
  • Bisbita llaneraSpanish
  • Bisbita llaneroSpanish
  • preeriakiurEstonian
  • پیپت اسپراگPersian
  • preeriakirvinenFinnish
  • Pipit de SpragueFrench
  • pipit des prairiesFrench
  • Riabhóg SpragueIrish
  • prerijska trepteljkaCroatian
  • préri pityerHungarian
  • Pispola di SpragueItalian
  • ヤブタヒバリJapanese
  • prerinis kalviukasLithuanian
  • lielacu čipsteLatvian
  • PrairiepieperDutch
  • præriepiplerkeNorwegian
  • świergotek preriowyPolish
  • Petinha-da-pradariaPortuguese
  • petinha-das-pradariasPortuguese
  • Прерийный конёкRussian
  • Североамериканский конёкRussian
  • ľabtuška prériováSlovak
  • Spragova trepteljkaSerbian
  • präriepiplärkaSwedish
  • Preri İncirkuşuTurkish
  • щеврик прерієвийUkrainian
  • 斯氏鹨Chinese
  • 斯普氏鷚Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the sprague's pipit

Other species in the same genus Anthus.

LC, Least Concern
Tree pipit (Anthus trivialis)

Tree pipit

Anthus trivialis

Motacillidae

LC, Least Concern
Tawny pipit (Anthus campestris)

Tawny pipit

Anthus campestris

Motacillidae

LC, Least Concern
Water pipit (Anthus spinoletta)

Water pipit

Anthus spinoletta

Motacillidae

CompareSprague's pipit vs Tree pipitSprague's pipit vs Meadow pipitSprague's pipit vs Tawny pipitSprague's pipit vs Red-throated pipit

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the sprague's pipit?

An adult sprague's pipit weighs 22.8 g – 25.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the sprague's pipit endangered?

The sprague's pipit is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the sprague's pipit?

The sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii) belongs to the family Motacillidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spragues-pipit

MLA

“Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spragues-pipit.

BibTeX
@misc{spragues_pipit_2026,
  title = {Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spragues-pipit},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}