Macronyx capensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-throated Longclaw sighting in West Coast National Park on a given day, based on 277 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 79th most-seen of the 192 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-throated Longclaw in West Coast National Park on a given day, against about 10% in September and December, the lowest months. That is one of West Coast National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 70 mm in June.
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.
2nd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Orange-throated Longclaw sightings, West Coast National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 50%).
Same family: Motacillidae
The closest relatives of the Orange-throated Longclaw that you can see in West Coast National Park (family Motacillidae, Wagtails and Pipits) are Cape Wagtail (about 70%) and Grassveld Pipit (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange-throated Longclaw is recorded against all the birds logged in West Coast National Park (277 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.
