Status of Siberian buff-bellied pipit in Western Siberia

The distribution of Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens japonicus) in Western Siberia is described based on museum specimens, literature and personal observations. The Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit, a fairly common breeder in areas east of the Yenisey, was also found to be a common spring and autumn migrant on the middle reaches of the Yenisey and near Krasnoyarsk. The large number of winter, spring and autumn records of this species in the Central Asian republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, supported by collection material in museums, gives good reason to assume that at least part of the population of this species winters south-west of the known breeding range. Thus the migration route should pass through eastern and southern parts of Western Siberia. In this region, Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit should be treated as a regular, but rare or scarce passage-migrant.