Cape longclaw | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Motacillidae |
Genus: | Macronyx |
Species: | M. capensis
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Binomial name | |
Macronyx capensis (
Linnaeus, 1766)
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Synonyms | |
Alauda capensis Linnaeus, 1766 |
The Cape longclaw or orange-throated longclaw (Macronyx capensis) is a passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which comprises the longclaws, pipits and wagtails. [2] It occurs in Southern Africa in Zimbabwe and southern and eastern South Africa. This species is found in coastal and mountain grassland, often near water. [2]
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Cape longclaw in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope. He used the French name L'alouette du Cap de Bonne Espérance and the Latin Alauda Capitis Bonae Spei. [3] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. [4] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. [4] One of these was the Cape longclaw. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Alauda capensis and cited Brisson's work. [5] The specific name capensis denotes the Cape of Good Hope. [6] The species is now placed in the genus Macronyx that was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1827 with the Cape longclaw as the type species. [7] [8]
Two subspecies are recognised: [9]
The Cape longclaw is a 19–20 cm long. [2] The adult male has a grey head with a buff supercilium and a streaked blackish back. It has a bright orange gorget, black breast band and otherwise yellow underparts. The female is duller, having a yellow throat and much weaker breast band. The juvenile has a dirty yellow throat, indistinct breast band, and yellowish white underparts. [2]
The Cape longclaw is usually found in pairs throughout the year. It feeds on the ground on insects and some seeds. The song is a musical cheewit cheewit, the contact call is tsweet, and there is also a mewling alarm call. Typically not found in larger groups than two, a breeding pair or more often singly. [2] Another behavioural characteristic is the tendency of birds to stand on top of stones, anthills or large grass clumps. While doing so birds stand upright with their breast extended. [2]
This species has a striking resemblance to the unrelated icterid meadowlarks, grassland birds of the Americas. This is presumably due to convergent evolution.