
Photo: (c) nmoorhatch, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0
Anthus hodgsoni
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
Diet
Invertebrates
Habitat
Open woodland and scrub; nest a cup of moss and grass on the ground; breeds up to 4,500m in eastern Nepal
Range
Breeds across southern, north-central and eastern Asia and north-eastern European Russia
Clutch size
3–5 dark brown, spotted eggs, usually 4
Size
About 15cm
The olive-backed pipit, sometimes called the Indian, Hodgson's or tree pipit because of its resemblance to the tree pipit, is a small pipit about 15 cm long, greenish-brown above streaked with darker brown and whitish to buff below with dark brown streaks on the breast and flanks. It breeds across southern, north-central and eastern Asia and north-eastern European Russia, north to Gansu and east through Korea to Japan (Wikipedia, general species account).
It breeds in open woodland and scrub, making a cup of moss and grass on the ground under a grass tuft or boulder, with three to five, usually four, dark brown spotted eggs. The song, uttered on the wing, is lark-like and similar to the tree pipit's but faster and higher pitched.