Pipits and Wagtails (Motacillidae)
Buffy Pipit (Anthus vaalensis) - HBW 9, p. 753
French: Pipit du Vaal
German: Vaalpieper
Spanish: Bisbita del Vaal
Other common names: Sandy (Plain-backed) Pipit
Taxonomy: Anthus vaalensis Shelley, 1900, Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Was in the past confused with A. leucophrys; NE races saphiroi and goodsoni still included in that species by some authors. Race chobiensis possibly better merged with neumanni, and marungensis possibly indistinguishable from either of those two. Proposed race daviesi (Eastern Cape, South Africa) included in nominate, and muhingae (SE DRCongo) in neumanni; birds of SE Botswana and NE South Africa sometimes separated as race clanceyi. Geographical limits of races difficult to establish; boundaries between listed ranges tenta.. View all taxonomy...
Was in the past confused with A. leucophrys; NE races saphiroi and goodsoni still included in that species by some authors. Race chobiensis possibly better merged with neumanni, and marungensis possibly indistinguishable from either of those two. Proposed race daviesi (Eastern Cape, South Africa) included in nominate, and muhingae (SE DRCongo) in neumanni; birds of SE Botswana and NE South Africa sometimes separated as race clanceyi. Geographical limits of races difficult to establish; boundaries between listed ranges tentative. Eight subspecies provisionally recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- saphiroi Neumann, 1906 - SE Ethiopia and NW Somalia.
- goodsoni Meinertzhagen, 1920 - C & SW Kenya and extreme N Tanzania.
- neumanni Meinertzhagen, 1920 - Angolan plateau and SC & S DRCongo; moves S to Namibia and Botswana in the rains.
- saphiroi Neumann, 1906 - SE Ethiopia and NW Somalia.
- goodsoni Meinertzhagen, 1920 - C & SW Kenya and extreme N Tanzania.
- neumanni Meinertzhagen, 1920 - Angolan plateau and SC & S DRCongo; moves S to Namibia and Botswana in the rains.
- chobiensis (Roberts, 1932) - SE DRCongo and W Tanzania S to SE Angola, extreme NE Namibia, N Botswana, Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique.
- marungensis Chapin, 1937 - N Zambia E to S Tanzania.
- namibicus Clancey, 1990 - NE & C Namibia.
- exasperatus Winterbottom, 1963 - NE Botswana; migrates to W Zimbabwe.
- vaalensis Shelley, 1900 - S Botswana E to S Mozambique, NE South Africa and W Lesotho.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A bird walking and foraging on a field Locality Mahango Game Reserve, Caprivi Region, Namibia (ssp chobiensis)
Josh Engel 6 December 2007 3 years ago 38 sec 3.2 -
A bird standing on a rock then walking away showing tail wagging behaviour Locality Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Delta, North-West District, Botswana (ssp exasperatus)
Keith Blomerley 7 January 2007 4 years ago 24 sec 2.9
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An adult, standing in the sand.
Locality Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Kalahari Gemsbok NP), Northern Cape Province, South Africa (ssp vaalensis)
Carmelo López 3 December 2010 1 year ago 2.5
- No sound recordings available yet
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