Motacilla capensis
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on Ren Hathway's illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The Cape wagtail (Motacilla capensis), also known as Wells's wagtail, is a small insectivorous bird which is widespread in southern Africa. It frequents water's edge, lawns and gardens. It is a mostly resident, territorial species, but has been known to undertake limited altitudinal migration or form flocks outside of the breeding season. Like other wagtails they are passerine birds of the family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws.
In 1760, French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Cape wagtail in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope. He used the French name La bergeronette du Cap de Bonne Espérance and the Latin Motacilla Capitis Bonae Spei. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 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. One of these was the Cape wagtail. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Motacilla... Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Wagtail sighting in Nairobi on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 137th most-seen of the 234 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Wagtail in Nairobi on a given day, against under 5% in August to June, the lowest months. That is one of Nairobi's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 150 mm in April.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Wagtail sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 8
Of the 8 cities where we can rate Cape Wagtail sightings, Nairobi ranks 7th at under 5%. The best odds are in Durban (South Africa, about 50%), Cape Town (South Africa, about 40%) and Pretoria (South Africa, about 20%).
Same genus: Motacilla
The closest relatives of the Cape Wagtail that you can see in Nairobi (genus Motacilla, Wagtails) are African Pied Wagtail (about 60%) and Mountain Wagtail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Wagtail is recorded against all the birds logged in Nairobi (31 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
