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Namibia- African Pipit Confirm (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Jacob12
- Start date
Don't have a guide to this area. What are the options?
Well out of those it's gotta be. (And comparing with the 2 in birds of e Africa, ebird for Buffy)
If it was an African it should show the white outer tails feathers. I can't see them in this bird and that concerns me.
Buffy can be ruled out as the streaking is on the breast and the back, so really it is down to size and tail feathers. The confusion is that Long-billed here is split as Nicholson's and looking at Birds of e. African is looking at the wrong species! I have struggled to find good photos and suspect that some of the pictures on eBird are wrongly ascribed to species between African, Buffy and Nicholson's in Namibia.
Separation by call is simple, by plumage from photos v difficult IMO.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
This seems to be a bit of a mess, Nicholson's is now thought likely to be the 'species' involved with the now de-recognised 'Kimberley' Pipit.
Although if my memory serves me right - Kimberley was lumped with African (not Long-billed/Nicholson's)
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
I'm a bit confused! Are Nicholson's what was all Long-billed, or just A. s. nicholsoni . Neither Long-billed or Kimberley, (the latter has been assimilated in to 3 species; see Kimberley Pipit - BirdForum Opus | BirdForum ) appear in the new eBirds of Southern Africa (eSASOL), but both appear in SASOL 4th Edition.
Nicholson's is a poly-typic species that includes nicholsoni, but additionally palliditinctus, leucocraspedon, petricolus & primarius (moco from central Angola stayed in Long-billed). All were previous ssp of LB. So now in Southern Africa all are Nicholson's.
All the previous museum specimens of 'Kimberley' have been re-identified as you say amongst the three species. My understanding is the type specimen went to African - hence my previous comment.
Of the strange pipits in central SA - long-tailed has also 'gone', although I am not sure how widespread the acceptance of the split ever was.
Thanks Muppit 17. That has cleared things up! For the Long-tailed see Long-tailed Pipit - BirdForum Opus | BirdForum
As a spectator on this thread, the final ID is unclear to me, so can I ask: is the final ID Long-billed Pipit, partly by process of elimination - not Buffy because of streaking; not African because white outertail feathers can't be seen? That is, rather than any positive Long-billed ID?
I would like to see the breast better, but going by the views of the back, it seems to be Nicholson's Pipit, the new catch all for all the southern african Long-billed Pipit species.
Thank you, Andy Hurley. As regards the English name - I thought current practice was not to give human family names to species, especially non-local names, whatever the binomial might be and whatever ssp it might have been based on. I wonder why this species ended up with this name?
