{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{speciesbox | name = Cape longclaw | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Macronyx capensis'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22718414A94579469 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718414A94579469.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> | image =Cape Longclaw (Macronyx capensis) (31320650481).jpg | genus = Macronyx | species = capensis | authority = (Linnaeus, 1766) | synonyms = ''Alauda capensis'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1766}} }}

The '''Cape longclaw''' or '''orange-throated longclaw''' ('''''Macronyx capensis''''') is a passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which comprises the longclaws, pipits and wagtails.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Newman's Birds of Southern Africa|last=Newman|first=Vanessa|publisher=Pippa Parker|year=2010|isbn=978-1-77007-876-5|location=Cape Town, South Africa|page=328}}</ref> It occurs in Southern Africa in Zimbabwe and southern and eastern South Africa. This species is found in coastal and mountain grassland, often near water.<ref name=":0" />

==Taxonomy== In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Cape longclaw in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope. He used the French name ''L'alouette du Cap de Bonne Espérance'' and the Latin ''Alauda Capitis Bonae Spei''.<ref name=brisson>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=3 | language=fr, la | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | pages=364–367, Plate 19 fig 3 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35953423 }} The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.</ref> Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.<ref name=allen>{{cite journal |last=Allen | first=J.A. | author-link=Joel Asaph Allen | year=1910 | title=Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=28 | pages=317–335 |hdl=2246/678}}</ref> When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.<ref name=allen/> One of these was the Cape longclaw. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name ''Alauda capensis'' and cited Brisson's work.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae: per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=la | page=288 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946484 }}</ref> The specific name ''capensis'' denotes the Cape of Good Hope.<ref name=hbwkey>{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2018 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/capense-capensis | access-date=2 May 2018 }}</ref> The species is now placed in the genus ''Macronyx'' that was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827 with the Cape longclaw as the type species.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Swainson | first=William | author-link=William Swainson | year=1827 | title=On several groups and forms in ornithology, not hitherto defined | journal=Zoological Journal | volume=3 | pages=343–363 [344] | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2339403 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=142 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480817 }}<!--needed for sentinelle=Alauda capensis--></ref>

Two subspecies are recognised:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2018 | title=Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits | work=World Bird List Version 8.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waxbills/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=2 April 2018 }}</ref>

* ''M. c. capensis'' (Linnaeus, 1766) – southwest, south South Africa * ''M. c. colletti'' Schou, 1908 – southeast Botswana and Zimbabwe to Mozambique and east South Africa

==Description== The Cape longclaw is a 19–20&nbsp;cm long.<ref name=":0" /> The adult male has a grey head with a buff supercilium and a streaked blackish back. It has a bright orange gorget, black breast band and otherwise yellow underparts. The female is duller, having a yellow throat and much weaker breast band. The juvenile has a dirty yellow throat, indistinct breast band, and yellowish white underparts.<ref name=":0" />

The Cape longclaw is usually found in pairs throughout the year. It feeds on the ground on insects and some seeds. The song is a musical ''cheewit cheewit'', the contact call is ''tsweet'', and there is also a mewling alarm call. Typically not found in larger groups than two, a breeding pair or more often singly.<ref name=":0" /> Another behavioural characteristic is the tendency of birds to stand on top of stones, anthills or large grass clumps. While doing so birds stand upright with their breast extended.<ref name=":0" />

This species has a striking resemblance to the unrelated icterid meadowlarks, grassland birds of the Americas. This is presumably due to convergent evolution.

==References== {{Reflist}} * Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton, ''SASOL Birds of Southern Africa'', {{ISBN|1-86872-721-1}}

==External links== * Cape/Orangethroated Longclaw - [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/727.pdf Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds]. *[https://thebdi.org/2026/02/06/cape-longclaw-macronyx-capensis/ Cape longclaw] Structured guide to the species in southern Africa

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Cape longclaw Category:Birds of Southern Africa Cape longclaw Cape longclaw