Cape Wagtail

Photo by Max Holdt
Kleinmond, Cape, South Africa, December 2004

Motacilla capensis

Identification

L. 20 cm, Wt. 20 g

• Dull olive grey
• Dull off-white below
• Blackish breast band
• White supercilium
• White edges to wing feathers
• Dark grey-brown tail

Juvenile
Photo by GiGi
Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, September 2006

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa: DRC, Uganda and Kenya in the north to southern South Africa.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

Motacilla capensis has three subspecies:

• M. c. wellsi

• South-western Kenya, Uganda, eastern DRC and Tanzania.

• M. c. simplicissima

• Southern DRC, Zambia, Angola, Caprivi (north-eastern Namibia), Botswana and northwestern Zimbabwe.
• Swamp-dwelling form; more olive than nominate, underparts yellowish, dark breast spot rather than breast band.

Photo by GarethH
Strand, Western Cape, South Africa, December 2005

• M. c. capensis

• Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini, and parts of southern Mozambique.
• As described under Identification.

Habitat

Almost anywhere where there is water with open ground nearby, from fynbos to forest edge and through alpine grasslands to the Namib Desert.

Behaviour

Gregarious

Diet

Usually forages by walking purposefully, picking or darting after insects. Also wades through shallow water, picking prey in or over water. Mainly insects, dead or alive, including moths, dragonflies, ants, caterpillars, beetles, mosquitoes and termites.

Breeding

Solitary nester retaining same mate for successive breeding attempts and will attack its reflection in glass or metal during breeding season. Nest has a bulky base built of grasses, weeds, roots, pine needles and seedpods.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Cape Wagtail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cape_Wagtail

External Links

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