The Maltese name for the Meadow Pipit is a household name: Pespus. The name has been in existence since the late 1700s.

Pipits are considered to be frail birds and the Maltese expression qisek pespus, or impespes is said for a thin, frail person. The soft whispering call of birds is referred to as tpespis. There is also a tongue twister about the pipit calling a female pipit and the way she calls back: il-pespus pespes pespisa lil pespusa tal-pespus u l-pespusa tal-pespus ghat-tpespisa tal-pespus, pespset.

Pipits are a group of ground-feeding and nesting birds which generally have greenish or brownish plumage, pale under parts with dark streaks and white outer tail feathers. The Meadow Pipit is a very common autumn migrant and winter visitor, arriving in mid-October and remaining with us until late March. Sometimes it is recorded as early as September and a few are also seen in April and early May.

Meadow Pipits are easy to identify as they usually call their characteristic ‘Psit, psit psit”, when flushed from the ground.

Large numbers can be recorded but in some winters, such as the one we are in, its numbers are rather thin on the ground. Pipits can be seen moving swiftly on the ground, looking for flies, beetles, moths and other insects, as well as spiders.

Like many wintering species, Meadow pipits are faithful to their wintering areas and they tend to return to the same location year after year if left unmolested. In the past, Meadow Pipits were shot to be eaten, a practice that has disappeared. Some are still unfortunately shot when irresponsible hunters take pot shots at them.

The Meadow Pipit has a very large range and breeds from Greenland, the UK and Scandinavia to France, east to the Balkans and northern Ukraine, but over the past few years, the population trend appears to be decreasing.  It winters in Africa and some even cross the Sahara. Meadow Pipits can survive for up to 8 years in the wild.