Longclaw
Genus of birds
title: "Longclaw" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["macronyx", "birds-of-sub-saharan-africa", "taxa-named-by-william-swainson"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/macronyx" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longclaw" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
| name = Longclaws | image = Yellow throated Longclaw Macronyx croceus, crop.jpg | image_caption = Yellow-throated longclaw (Macronyx croceus) | taxon = Macronyx | authority = Swainson, 1827 | type_species = Alauda capensis | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1766 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 8, see text
The longclaws are a genus, Macronyx, of small African passerine birds in the family Motacillidae.
Longclaws are slender, often colorful, ground-feeding insectivores of open country. They are ground nesters, laying up to four speckled eggs. They are named for their unusually long hind claws, which are thought to help walk on grass. There are only between 10,000 and 19,000 Sharpe's longclaw left in Kenya.
The genus Macronyx was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827 with the Cape longclaw as the type species. The name combines the Classical Greek words el "long" or "great" and el "claw".
Species list
The genus contains eight species: ::data[format=table]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Sharpe‘sLongclaw.jpg | 120px]] | Macronyx sharpei | Sharpe's longclaw |
| Macronyx flavicollis | Abyssinian longclaw | Ethiopia | |
| [[File:Abyssinian Longclaw - Ethiopia 2 (17000135681).jpg | 120px]] | Macronyx fuelleborni | Fülleborn's longclaw |
| [[File:Cape Longclaw (Macronyx capensis) (31320650481).jpg | 120px]] | Macronyx capensis | Cape longclaw |
| [[File:Serengeti Gelbkehlpieper1.jpg | 120px]] | Macronyx croceus | Yellow-throated longclaw |
| [[File:Pangani Longclaw specimen RWD.jpg | 120px]] | Macronyx aurantiigula | Pangani longclaw |
| [[File:Macronyx ameliae -East Africa-8.jpg | 120px]] | Macronyx ameliae | Rosy-throated longclaw |
| Macronyx grimwoodi | Grimwood's longclaw | Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. | |
| :: |
References
References
- Swainson, William. (1827). "On several groups and forms in ornithology, not hitherto defined". Zoological Journal.
- (1960). "Check-list of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Jobling, J.A.. (2018). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Lynx Edicions.
- (2018). "Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits". International Ornithologists' Union.
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