Macronyx capensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The Cape longclaw or orange-throated longclaw (Macronyx capensis) is a passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which comprises the longclaws, pipits and wagtails. 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.
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. 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 longclaw. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Alauda capensis and cited Brisson's work. The specific name capensis denotes the Cape of Good Hope. The species is now placed in the genus Macronyx that... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-throated Longclaw sighting in Garden Route National Park on a given day, based on 36 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 167th most-seen of the 222 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-throated Longclaw in Garden Route National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February to December, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange-throated Longclaw sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Orange-throated Longclaw sightings, Garden Route National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 50%), West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 20%) and Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange-throated Longclaw is recorded against all the birds logged in Garden Route National Park (36 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
