Pipits and Wagtails (Motacillidae)

Plain-backed Pipit (Anthus leucophrys) - HBW 9, p. 753

French: Pipit à dos uni German: Braunrückenpieper Spanish: Bisbita Liso

Taxonomy: Anthus leucophrys Vieillot, 1818, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
Races goodsoni and saphiroi of A. vaalensis included in present species by some authors. Variation partly clinal, with races intergrading from W to E; ansorgei also intergrades with zenkeri in Guinea-Bissau. Other described races are prunus (Angola), merged with bohndorffi, turneri (NW Kenya), synonymized with zenkeri, and enunciator (Swaziland), merged with nominate. Seven subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

ansorgei C. M. N. White, 1948 - S Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
zenkeri Neumann, 1906 - Guinea and S Mali E to Ghana, thence E to S Chad, Central African Republic and S Sudan, and S to Cameroon, N & E DRCongo, Burundi, NW Tanzania and W Kenya.
gouldii Fraser, 1843 - Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast.

See all 7 subspecies

ansorgei C. M. N. White, 1948 - S Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
zenkeri Neumann, 1906 - Guinea and S Mali E to Ghana, thence E to S Chad, Central African Republic and S Sudan, and S to Cameroon, N & E DRCongo, Burundi, NW Tanzania and W Kenya.
gouldii Fraser, 1843 - Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast.
omoensis Neumann, 1906 - SE Sudan and N, C & W Ethiopia.
bohndorffi Neumann, 1906 - SE Gabon, C PRCongo, and S DRCongo E to W Tanzania and S to C Angola, NW Zambia and N Malawi (R Songwe).
tephridorsus Clancey, 1967 - S Angola and S Zambia S to N Namibia, NW Botswana and NE Zimbabwe.
leucophrys Vieillot, 1818 - SE Botswana E to extreme S Mozambique, S to E & S South Africa.