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New Pipits:
In the early 1990s, Dr Richard Liversidge,
of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, started noticing peculiar
pipits around the town, and in 1996 the description of Long-tailed
Pipit Anthus longicaudatus was published (see p.135).
The
distribution and movements of this new species are poorly
known, although it seems to be a non-breeding winter visitor
(May to early September) to the Kimberley region. Pipit field
identification is notoriously subjective, and separating Long-tailed
from the similar Plain-backed and Buffy Pipits is less than
clear. You will need to spend some time familiarizing yourself
with the selection at Beaconsfield (see opposite) and elsewhere
before attempting to sort them out. The publication of the
description of a second new pipit — the ‘Kimberley
Pipit‘ — is imminent, and
visitors are cautioned to have a close look at all of the
similar Long-billed Pipits around Kimberley. For updates,
visit
the African Bird Taxonomy page at
www.birdingafrica.com.
Identification:
Long-tailed is a large, heavily built pipit with a distinct
eyebrow and an unstreaked buffy back, crown and mantle (unlike
Grassveld, Long-billed and ‘Kimberley’). Unlike
Buffy Pipit, it has a distinctly yellow base to its lower
mandible, like Plain-backed Pipit. Other subtle characters
that may separate it from Buffy and Plain-backed are its slightly
longer tail and darker colour, more horizontal jizz when feeding,
and an even higher rate of tail-wagging, involving the entire
lower body.
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© Birding Africa 1997-2009 info@capebirdingroute.org
4 Crassula Way, Pinelands, 7405, Cape Town, South Africa
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27/09/09: Dalton
Gibbs reports back from Gough
Island! Read the blog!
26/09/09: New Cape
Town Pelagics trip report from trips of 12 and 19 September
2009.
30/08/09: British
Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water proved very successful,
with sunny weather and over 20,000 visitors. Callan's "Birding
Namibia and the Okavango" was the most highly-attended
lecture on the Saturday, with over 240 people. Congratulations
to the winners of the Birding Africa competition and the
African Bird Club raffle that we helped sponsor!
12/08/09: New Cape
Town Pelagics trip reports from August and July 2009.
Highlights: Little
Shearwater and more!
07/08/09: The
sub-adult Black Sarrowhawk visits our garden again! Read
on about Raptor Research in the Western Cape.
27/07/09: Cape
Town's Verreauxs' Eagle Chick has grown! And its sibling
never had a chance to hatch. See the pictures of the chick,
its nest and the breeding pair. Find out more about the Western
Cape Raptor Research Programme.
27/07/09: To follow modern nomenclature and systematics, we've
adopted the IOC
World Bird List, Version 2.1.
13/07/09: The 8th
African Bird ID Challenge has launched! Win a 50% discount
on a Cape Town Pelagics
trip, a copy of Southern
African Birdfinder, or African
Bird Club membership for 1 year.
6 July 09: Cape
White-eye research in our garden.
2 July 09: Cape
Town's Verreauxs' Eagle Chick has hatched! See the pictures
of the chick, its nest and the breeding pair. Find out more
about the Western Cape Raptor Research Programme.
2 July 09: Campbell
Fleming, a Cape Town scholar, avid birder and photographer,
joined Birding Africa last month as an intern. Click here,
to see what he got up to.
2 July 09: New pelagic
trip reports from the Cape Town Pelagics trips in June
2009. Highlights: Slenderbilled
Prion and Leach's Storm Petrel
30 july 09: Our latest Cape Fynbos and Karoo trip
reports feature Hottentot
Buttonquail, Cinnamon-breasted
Warbler and other fynbos and Karoo endemics...
26 June 09: Tungsten
mining threatens RAMSAR site, South Africa's Verlorenvlei.
Read the Media Release.
22 June 09: Claire
Spottiswoode, one of the Cape Birding Route founders,
was part of the exploratory team at Mount Mabu. The mountain
is part of the newly discovered largest
rainforest in Southern Africa.
11 June 09: A colour-ringed
Black Sparrowhawk visits the Birding Africa office garden.
Read why it's a 10 months old male!
14 June 09:
Wildlife
at the office of The Cape Birding Route, Birding Africa
and Cape Town Pelagics.
31 May 09:
Michel Watelet wins the 7th African Bird Club & Birding Africa
ID Challenge. Test your African birding skills and WIN
a Birding
Africa Cape town day trip or a copy of the Birdfinder!
30 May 09:
A tragedy unfolds at Kommetjie south of Cape town as 44 beached
False
Killer Whales were shot. Click here for more details and
pictures.
14 March 09: Raptor
Watch in Cape Town on 14 March 09
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