Bushveld Pipit ( Anthus caffer, family: Motacillidae)

bushveld pipit kruger national park birds The Bushveld Pipit (Latin name Anthus caffer) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 723 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 1112 also a picture of the Bushveld Pipit on page 1120. The Bushveld Pipit belongs to the family of birds classified as Motacillidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Bushveld Pipit is also known by these other names: Little Tawny Pipit, Little Pipit.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Bushveld Pipit was called the

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Bushveld Pipit is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Bushveld Pipit in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Bushveld Pipit : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Bushveld Pipit is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Bushveld Pipit is about 13 cms and its weight is about 17 gms

The male and female Bushveld Pipit have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is brown.
  • Throat is brown, white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are pink.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Bushveld Pipit feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Bushveld Pipit is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Anthus caffer will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Bushveld Pipit is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 1 to 3

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Bushveld Pipit are: woodlands and grasslands . The Bushveld Pipit is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You will not see Bushveld Pipit in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Bosveldkoester

German ... Buschpieper

Portuguese ... Petinha-do-mato

French ... Pipit des arbres

Dutch ... Savanne-Pieper

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 723

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za