The rosy-throated longclaw, also known as the rosy-breasted longclaw (''Macronyx ameliae'') 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 lightweigh ...

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 predominan ...

. It is found in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. The Marquis

Léonce de Tarragon Léonce is a French masculine given name. People with the name Léonce include: *Léonce (actor) (1823–1900), French actor and singer *Léonce Bekemans (born 1950), Belgian economist and scholar *Léonce-Henri Burel (1892–1977), French cinemat ...

described the species in 1845, its specific name honouring either his wife or mother who were both named Amélie.

Richard Bowdler Sharpe Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English zoologist and ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his career he published several mono ...

named this species ''M. wintoni'' in 1891 after

William Edward de Winton William Edward de Winton (6 September 1856 – 30 August 1922) was a British zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal ...

. Common names include rosy-throated longclaw, pink-throated longclaw and rosy-breasted longclaw. Three subspecies are recognized: ''M. ameliae ameliae'' from Mozambique, Eswatini and eastern South Africa, ''M. ameliae wintoni'' from southwestern Kenya and northern Tanzania, and ''M. ameliae altanus'' from Botswana, Angola, Malawi, southwestern Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Description

Adult birds are long with greyish-brown scalloped upper parts. The male has a pink throat and breast crossed with a broad black band across the chest, which is not evident outside of breeding season. Female birds have pink underparts, but lack the black band. Immature birds have mainly black-streaked pale brown underparts with some pink-red colour centrally. It makes a ''chiteet'' call, resembling that of a pipit. The rosy-throated longclaw is found in wet grasslands and flood plains, often with lower grasses. Found across central and eastern Africa, it is more patchily distributed in the south of the continent. It is restricted to the Okavango Delta, Linyanti Marshes and Chobe floodplains in Botswana and Namibia, the Zimbabwe highveld in Zimbabwe and coastal areas in Kwazulu-Natal. Its occurrence in Kwazulu-Natal is threatened by coastal development. The rosy-throated longclaw breeds during the wet season from September to April.

References

Sources

* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q942868

rosy-throated longclaw The rosy-throated longclaw, also known as the rosy-breasted longclaw (''Macronyx ameliae'') is a species of bird in the family Motacillidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sou ...

Birds of Central Africa Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot