Buffy Pipit

Anthus vaalensis Shelley, 1900

Buffy Pipit, Anthus vaalensis, is a bird of southern, south-central and eastern Africa, where it lives in open country and semi-arid plains with grass and bare ground. It is a member of the Motacillidae family and was described by Shelley in 1900. It is also found in pastures, burnt fields and along the edges of saltpans. The species is recognised by its paler, buffier upperparts than the plain-backed pipit, together with a pale supercilium, a pinkish base to the lower mandible, faint breast markings, and buff on the belly and flanks.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Motacillidae — Wagtails, Pipits

Breeding range

Africa: s, sc, e