Common Name: Sprague’s Pipit
Species Name: Anthus spragueii
Description: The Sprague’s Pipit is a medium-sized, cryptically coloured songbird with a thin bill and distinctive tail pattern, with white outer feathers contrasting with brown inner feathers.
Where it can be found: Throughout southwestern Manitoba on native prairie fields.
Threats: Approximately 80% of all global breeding of this species occurs in Canada.  It requires pretty specific nesting conditions: open native grasslands that aren’t overly tall or dense, with minimal shrub encroachment.  Also, the size of the grassland patch correlates with the success of the Pipit’s breeding, so habitat fragmentation is a concern.  Only rarely have Pipits been found in cultivated fields, so it is imperative that the remaining native prairie habitat be protected from cultivation.
Information Sources: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC)