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Difference between revisions of "African Pipit" - BirdForum Opus

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Revision as of 12:28, 8 December 2021

Alternative name: Grassland Pipit
Includes: Cameroon Pipit; Jackson's Pipit

Photo by Leon
Potchefstroom, South Africa, June 2004
Anthus cinnamomeus

Identification

15 to 17 cm

  • Buff-brown streaky upperparts
  • White or pale buff underparts
  • Streaked breast
  • Unstreaked belly and flanks
  • Boldly patterned face; pale eyestripe, dark malar stripe
  • Whitish outer tail-feathers
  • Long pink legs
  • Slender dark bill with a yellowish base to the lower mandible

Juvenile birds have a blotched breast, scalloping on the upperparts and some streaking on the flanks.

Similar Species

Long-billed Pipit, which has buff outer tail and a sparrow-like call.

Distribution

This is the most common Pipit in eastern and southern Africa.
Western Africa: Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, eSwatini
Middle East: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Taxonomy

This species was formerly regarded a part of a much larger species called Anthus novaseelandiae which was split in African Pipit, Mountain Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit, Richard's Pipit and Australasian Pipit.
Jackson's Pipit was recently lumped into this species.

Subspecies

More than ten subspecies are recognized[1]:

  • A. c. camaroonensis:
  • Cameroon (Mount Cameroon and Mount Manenguba)
  • A. c. eximius:
  • A. c. lynesi:
  • A. c. stabilis:
  • A. c. cinnamomeus:
  • Highlands of western and south-eastern Ethiopia
  • A. c. annae:
  • A. c. itombwensis:
  • Eastern Zaire (Itombwe Highlands and Mount Kabobo)
  • A. c. lacuum:
  • A. c. lichenya:
  • A. c. spurius:
  • A. c. bocagei:
  • A. c. rufuloides:
  • A. c. latistriatus:
  • A. c. grotei:

Some authors split camaroonensis from Cameroon as Cameroon Pipit and latistriatus as Jackson's Pipit.

Habitat

Open habitats at altitudes of up to over 3000 m, grasslands and fields.

Behaviour

It has an undulating flight and can often be seen perching on posts and bushes. On the ground it walks with a strutting gait and often holds itself very erect.

Vocalisation

The song is a repeated series of twittering notes, given during an undulating song-flight or from a low perch.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Birdforum thread discussing id of an African Pipit
  4. Wikipedia

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.

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