Fülleborn's longclaw (''Macronyx fuelleborni'') or Fuelleborn's longclaw, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Motacillidae The wagtails, longclaws, and pipits are a family, Motacillidae, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Around 70 species occur in five genera. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predomin ...

. It is found in damp grassy habitats in south-central Africa.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies of Fülleborn's longclaw are recognised: *''Macronyx fuellebornii ascensi'' Salvadori, 1907: which is found in Angola, the central and southern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Zambia west of the valley of the Luangwa River and, rarely, in extreme northern Namibia. *''M. f. fuelleborni'' Reichenow, 1900 :restricted to south-western Tanzania.

Description

Fülleborn's longclaw is similar to the yellow-throated longclaw but it is slightly smaller, stockier and lacks the streaking on the breast. It has a yellow throat surrounded by a black band when adult and the yellow on the throat is duller in juveniles which also do not have the surrounding black band and have some indistinct streaks on the breast, but this is much less in extend than in related species.

Distribution

Fülleborn's longclaw is found in western central Africa from south western Tanzania to Angola and the extreme north of Namibia, where it is a vagrant.

Habitat and ecology

Fülleborn's longclaw is found in wet gassy areas, frequently in the vicinity of water and normally above in altitude. It is largely insectivorous and feeds on mainly on

grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

and beetles as well as termites and spiders. It nests on the ground during the rainy season.

Conservation

Fülleborn's longclaw has a wide distribution and large population so Birdlife International and the IUCN classify it as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Etymology

The specific name and the common name of this bird commemorate the German military physician and

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it ...

Friedrich Fülleborn (1866-1933).

References

Fülleborn's longclaw Birds of Central Africa Fülleborn's longclaw Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Passeroidea-stub