Biology:Cape longclaw
| Cape longclaw | |
|---|---|
_(31320650481).jpg)
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Motacillidae |
| Genus: | Macronyx |
| Species: | M. capensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Macronyx capensis (Linnaeus, 1766)
| |
| 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]
Taxonomy
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]
- M. c. capensis (Linnaeus, 1766) – southwest, south South Africa
- M. c. colletti Schou, 1908 – southeast Botswana and Zimbabwe to Mozambique and east South Africa
Description
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.
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Macronyx capensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22718414A94579469. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718414A94579469.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22718414/94579469. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Newman, Vanessa (2010). Newman's Birds of Southern Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Pippa Parker. pp. 328. ISBN 9781770078765.
- ↑ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760) (in fr, la). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés. 3. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 364–367, Plate 19 fig 3. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35953423. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Allen, J.A. (1910). "Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 28: 317–335.
- ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1766) (in la). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 288. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946484.
- ↑ Jobling, J.A. (2018). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". in del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. et al.. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/capense-capensis.
- ↑ Swainson, William John (1827). "On several groups and forms in ornithology, not hitherto defined". Zoological Journal 3: 343–363 [344]. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2339403.
- ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds (1960). Check-list of Birds of the World. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 142. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480817.
- ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds (2018). "Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waxbills/.
- Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa, ISBN:1-86872-721-1
External links
- Cape/Orangethroated Longclaw - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
Wikidata ☰ Q283406 entry
 |  |
