The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, Anthus, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails.

The genus is widespread, occurring across most of the world, except the driest deserts, rainforest and the mainland of Antarctica.

[2] The generic name Anthus is the Latin word for a small bird of grasslands mentioned by Pliny the Elder.

[6] In part the taxonomic difficulties arise due to the extreme similarities in appearance across the genus.

The family has an additional species, the golden pipit, Tmetothylacus tennelus, which belongs to a distinct, monotypic genus.

The undersides are usually darker than the top, and a variable amount of barring and streaking is seen on the back, wings, and breast.

The drab, mottled-brown colours provide some camouflage against the soil and stones on which they are generally found.

A few species have slightly more colourful breeding plumages; for example, the rosy pipit has greenish edges on the wing feathers.

The yellow-breasted pipit, if it is retained in this genus, is quite atypical in having bright yellow plumage on the throat, breast, and belly.

The family also ranges from the northern tundra and the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and the South Georgia group to the tropics.

Longer, more regular migrations between discrete breeding and wintering grounds are undertaken by several species.

Some variation happens in this, for example, Sprague's pipit of North America apparently only migrates by day.

The exact function of tail-wagging is unclear;[5] in the related wagtails it is thought to be a signal to predators of vigilance.

Insects are the most important prey items; among the types taken include flies and their larvae, beetles, grasshoppers and crickets, true bugs, mantids, ants, aphids and particularly the larvae and adults of moths and butterflies.

A few species have been reported to feed on small fish, beating them in the manner of a kingfisher having caught them.

[citation needed] Rock pipits have also been observed feeding on fish dropped by puffins.

These fish, which include sand eels and rocklings, were dropped by puffins being harassed by gulls.