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 "long" or "great" and "claw".
Species list The genus contains eight species: Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Macronyx sharpei Sharpe's longclaw west and central Kenya. Macronyx flavicollis Abyssinian longclaw Ethiopia Macronyx fuelleborni Fülleborn's longclaw south-central Africa. Macronyx capensis Cape longclaw Southern Africa in Zimbabwe and southern and eastern South Africa. Macronyx croceus Yellow-throated longclaw Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 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, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Macronyx aurantiigula Pangani longclaw Tanzania, Kenya and Somalia. Macronyx ameliae Rosy-throated longclaw Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Macronyx grimwoodi Grimwood's longclaw Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.
References
External links Longclaw videos on the Internet Bird Collection