Meadow Pipit

🔍 Overview

A slender, streaky bird of open habitats. Common across Sussex heathlands, downs, and coastal marshes.

🪶 Key Identification Features

Size: Small (15 cm)

Plumage: Streaky brown above, pale with heavy breast streaking below

Legs: Pale pink, often seen bobbing

Flight: Flutters upwards, then parachutes down

🗺️ Habitat & Distribution

Breeds in open moorland, coastal grassland, and heath—visible at Cissbury Ring, Sheepcote Valley and on the Adur River.

🎶 Voice & Behaviour

Weak “seep-seep” call. Display flight includes fluttering upward, then descending while singing.

🍴 Diet

Insects, small seeds.

📸 Birding Tip

Scan open, rough ground or listen for display flights in spring.