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Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii) is a small songbird (passerine) in the family Motacillidae that breeds in the short- and mixed-grass prairies of North America. Migratory, it spends the winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Sprague's pipits are unusual among songbirds in that they sing high in the sky, somewhat like a goldfinch or skylark. It is more often identified by its distinctive descending song heard from above than by being seen on the ground. Males and females are cryptically colored and similar in appearance; they are a buffy brown with darker streaking, slender bills and pinkish to yellow legs. Sprague's pipit summer habitat is primarily native grasslands in the north central prairies of the United States and Canada.

Found in mixed or short grass prairie throughout the central northern Great Plains of North America. In Canada, Sprague's pipit breed in southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and southwest Manitoba. In the United States, they breed in northeastern and central Montana, western and central North Dakota, northwest South Dakota, and in the Red River Valley of Minnesota. Sprague's pipits winter in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Sprague's pipits were listed in 1999 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as “threatened”; the status was re-examined and confirmed in May 2000. Sprague's pipits were officially listed under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) as “threatened” on 5 June 2003. In the United States, Sprague's pipits are a candidate for listing as “endangered” or “threatened” under the

They breed in habitat with minimal human disturbance, such as grazing, haying or other human development. Sprague's pipit is a ground nesting passerine and standing dead vegetation is used to build the canopy over the nest.

Nests are a small cup of grass found on the ground with standing dead vegetation folded over to create a canopy. There is a single entrance to the nest. Four to six eggs are typically laid within the nests with an average incubation time of 13–14 days.

Sprague's pipit's eat various insects, spiders, and sometimes seeds. During the breeding season the adults are almost entirely insectivorous and feed the young on insects as well.

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