Macronyx croceus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The yellow-throated longclaw (Macronyx croceus) is a species of bird in the family Motacillidae. Despite sharing no recent common ancestor, the yellow-throated longclaw and its sister species in Macronyx are very similar in both coloration and behavior to the meadowlarks of North America, an example of convergent evolution.
They have yellow underparts and a black "bib" on the upper chest. They may be distinguished from the closely related pangani longclaw by its yellow under tail-coverts, which the pangani lacks. The pangani also has an orange throat, whereas the yellow-throated does not.
Longclaws are generally solitary, except when found as mated pairs. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-throated Longclaw sighting in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, based on 107 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 151st most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-throated Longclaw in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January and October, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-throated Longclaw sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
15th of 24
Of the 24 parks where we can rate Yellow-throated Longclaw sightings, Murchison Falls National Park ranks 15th at about 10%. The best odds are in Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 50%), Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya, about 50%) and Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Motacillidae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-throated Longclaw that you can see in Murchison Falls National Park (family Motacillidae, Wagtails and Pipits) are African Pied Wagtail (about 30%), Western Yellow Wagtail (about 20%) and Grassveld Pipit (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-throated Longclaw is recorded against all the birds logged in Murchison Falls National Park (107 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.
