The Pangani Longclaw is a species of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the Motacillidae

Motacillidae

The Motacillidae are a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. There are around 65 species in 6 genera and they include the wagtails, longclaws and pipits. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predominately found in Europe, Africa and...

 family, which includes the pipits and wagtails.
It is found in Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

, Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, and Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

.
Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are dry savanna

Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...

 and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

.

Originally described by German ornithologist Anton Reichenow

Anton Reichenow

Anton Reichenow was a German ornithologist.Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Humboldt Museum from 1874 to 1921. He was an expert on African birds, making a collecting expedition to West Africa in 1872 and 1873, and writing Die Vögel Afrikas...

 in 1891, the Pangani Longclaw is a member of the longclaw genus Macronyx. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 words μακρός/makros "long", and ονυξ/onyx "claw" or "talons". The species name is derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 words aurantium "orange", and gŭla "throat" or "gullet"

The Pangani Longclaw measures around 20 cm (8 in) in length. As its species name suggests, it has an yellow-orange throat. This is bordered with a black necklace. The upperparts are mottled various shades of brown, and the belly is yellow. In immature birds, the belly is more buff than yellow and the dark breast band less distinct. The flanks are streaked black and buff. The flight is jerky. The call has been described as a high-pitched siuuweeeee, with a pitch that rises, falls then rises before fading away.

Its more orange throat helps distinguish it from the Yellow-throated Longclaw

Yellow-throated Longclaw

The Yellow-throated Longclaw is a species of bird in the Motacillidae family.It is found in 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,...

 and Abyssinian Longclaw

Abyssinian Longclaw

The Abyssinian Longclaw, Macronyx flavicollis, is a species of bird in the Motacillidae family. It is endemic to Ethiopia.-Habitat:Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and arable land.The Abyssinian Longclaw is very similar in both appearance and behavior to the...

, however the throats of female and older immature Pangani Longclaws can be more yellow. The last species is also found further north in the Horn of Africa in Ethiopia.

A predominantly ground-dwelling bird, the Pangani Longclaw inhabits grasslands, to an altitude of 1800 m (5500 ft).