Bush Pipit - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Ornitho26
Nylsvley Nature Reserve, South Africa, September 2004

Alternative name: Bushveld Pipit

Anthus caffer

Identification

12.5–14 cm

• Buff underparts
• Brown-streaked throat and breast
• Dark brownish head and upperparts
• Lighter eyestripe and chin

Distribution

Africa
Western Africa: DRC and Angola.
Eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi.
Southern Africa: Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal and eSwatini.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

There are 5 subspecies:

• A. c. australoabyssinicus:

• Highlands of extreme southern Ethiopia

• A. c. blayneyi:

• Highlands of Kenya and Tanzania

• A. c. mzimbaensis:

• Northern Zambia to north-eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe plateau and western Malawi

• A. c. caffer:

• South-eastern Botswana to south-western Zimbabwe, Transvaal, western eSwatini, northern Natal

• A. c. traylori:

• Southern Mozambique, adjacent eastern Transvaal and extreme north-eastern Natal

Habitat

Dry savanna and dry open forest.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects.

Breeding

It builds cup nest from grass and lined with rootlets. The clutch consists of 2-3 eggs.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. Answer.com
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2023) Bush Pipit. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 November 2023 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Bush_Pipit

External Links

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