Buntings and New World Sparrows (Emberizidae)
Cape Bunting (Emberiza capensis) - HBW 16, p. 522
French: Bruant du Cap
German: Kapammer
Spanish: Escribano de El Cabo
Other common names: Southern Rock Bunting; Vincent’s Bunting (vincenti)
Taxonomy: Emberiza capensis Linnaeus, 1766, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
Distinctive NE race vincenti sometimes treated as a separate species. Considerable geographical variation in plumage tone, but validity of large number of subspecies questionable; proposed race media (described from Deelfontein, in Northern Cape) is synonymized with cinnamomea. Eleven subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- nebularum (Rudebeck, 1958) - SW Angola.
- bradfieldi (Roberts, 1928) - N & C Namibia.
- capensis Linnaeus, 1766 - S Namibia S to SW South Africa (Western Cape).
- nebularum (Rudebeck, 1958) - SW Angola.
- bradfieldi (Roberts, 1928) - N & C Namibia.
- capensis Linnaeus, 1766 - S Namibia S to SW South Africa (Western Cape).
- vinacea Clancey, 1963 - NE Northern Cape (South Africa).
- cinnamomea (M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1842) - S Northern Cape and Eastern Cape E to W Free State (South Africa).
- vincenti (P. R. Lowe, 1932) - locally in highlands of SE Zambia, S Malawi, adjacent Mozambique and extreme SW Tanzania.
- plowesi (Vincent, 1950) - NE Botswana and Zimbabwe (E to Nyange, in E highlands).
- smithersii (Plowes, 1951) - Chimanimani Mts, in E Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique.
- limpopoensis (Roberts, 1924) - SE Botswana and adjacent South Africa (North West and Limpopo Provinces).
- basutoensis (Vincent, 1950) - breeds Lesotho highlands and adjacent E South Africa (W KwaZulu-Natal); post-breeding movement to lower elevations.
- reidi (Shelley, 1902) - lowlands of Lesotho and E Free State E to W Swaziland and interior of KwaZulu-Natal.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A bird singing (repeated). Locality Betty’s Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa
(ssp capensis)
Greg Baker 30 September 2002 18 weeks ago 4
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