Pipits and Wagtails (Motacillidae)

Long-billed Pipit (Anthus similis) - HBW 9, p. 749

French: Pipit à long bec German: Langschnabelpieper Spanish: Bisbita Piquilargo
Other common names: Brown Rock Pipit; Bannerman’s Pipit (bannermani); Indian Rock Pipit (jerdoni); Indian Long-billed Pipit, Rufous Rock Pipit (similis); Kerala Rock Pipit (travancoriensis); Moco Pipit (“moco”); Persian Rock Pipit (decaptus)

Taxonomy: Anthus similis Jerdon, 1840, Jalna, Nilgiri Hills, southern India.
Has been thought to form a superspecies with A. campestris. Previously regarded as conspecific with A. nyassae. Race winterbottomi of A. cinnamomeus has sometimes been treated as a race of present species. Race bannermani considered a separate species, possibly closer to A. latistriatus, by some authors. Taxonomy complex, and listed ranges somewhat tentative; revision required. Race nivescens is possibly inseparable from arabicus, and primarius is sometimes merged with nicholsoni. Other described races are josensis (from C Nigeria) and chapini (Cameroon), both included within bannermani; neumannianus (Ethiopia) and chyuluensis (Chyulu Hills, in Kenya), included in hararensis; moco (WC Angola) and hallae (Uganda), inseparable from dewittei; and cockburniae (Nilgiris), synonymous with nominate. Nineteen subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

asbenaicus Rothschild, 1920 - S Sahara in C & E Mali and C Niger.
bannermani Bates, 1930 - mountains of SW Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone and N Liberia E to C & SE Nigeria and W Cameroon.
captus Hartert, 1905 - Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine and W Jordan.

See all 19 subspecies

asbenaicus Rothschild, 1920 - S Sahara in C & E Mali and C Niger.
bannermani Bates, 1930 - mountains of SW Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone and N Liberia E to C & SE Nigeria and W Cameroon.
captus Hartert, 1905 - Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine and W Jordan.
jebelmarrae Lynes, 1920 - mountains of W & C Sudan.
nivescens Reichenow, 1905 - mountains of SE Egypt (Gebel Elba), and from hills of Red Sea coast in NE Sudan and Eritrea S to mountains in NW Somalia and N Kenya.
hararensis Neumann, 1906 - highlands of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
dewittei Chapin, 1937 - highlands of E & SE DRCongo, SW Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and C Angola (Mt Moco, in Huambo).
palliditinctus Clancey, 1956 - extreme SW Angola and NW Namibia.
leucocraspedon Reichenow, 1915 - W & S Namibia and SW South Africa (W Northern Cape, NW Western Cape).
nicholsoni Sharpe, 1884 - SE Botswana and NE South Africa (Northern Province S to Free State).
petricolus Clancey, 1956 - Lesotho and E South Africa.
primarius Clancey, 1990 - S South Africa (S Western Cape E to N Eastern Cape).
arabicus Hartert, 1917 - SW, S & SE Arabian Peninsula.
sokotrae Hartert, 1917 - Socotra I.
decaptus Meinertzhagen, 1920 - S Iran (Zagros Mts) E to W Pakistan (Baluchistan); winters S to NW India.
jerdoni Finsch, 1870 - breeds E Afghanistan E in Himalayas to W Nepal; winters S to NC India and Bangladesh.
similis Jerdon, 1840 - peninsular India from Bombay S to Karnataka and W Tamil Nadu (Nilgiri and Palni Hills).
travancoriensis Ripley, 1953 - SW India (Kerala-W Tamil Nadu border, from Palni Hills S to Ashambu Hills).
yamethini B. P. Hall, 1957 - C Myanmar.