Whilst ringing in the Tanoumah area I was lucky
enough to trap two Long-billed Pipits Anthus
similis arabicus and two African Pipits Anthus
cinnamomeus eximius. African Pipit is a little known bird in Saudi Arabia
where the subspecies is endemic to the southwest part of Saudi Arabia and
nearby Yemen. Little is known of the African Pipit in Saudi Arabia or the
subspecies A. s. arabicus of Long-billed Pipit. The Long-billed Pipit is
wide ranging in sub-Saharan Africa and from the Middle East and Arabia to
Myanmar. Twenty subspecies are described, with the one occurring in Saudi
Arabia A. s. arabicus occurring from the Hijaz and Asir mountains in
Saudi Arabia to northwest Yemen. As can be seen from the photos below the tail
pattern, especially the outer two tail feathers are very different. African
Pipit has white outer tail feather and a small amount of white on the inner web
of the second outermost tail feather whilst Long-billed Pipit has pale brown
outer tail feather with a small amount of pale brown on the inner web of the
second outermost tail feather. The tail measurements of the birds I trapped
show that Long-billed Pipit has a much longer tail (78 – 80 mm) than African
Pipit (65 – 67 mm) that should be noticeable in the field.
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| African Pipit tail |
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| Long-billed Pipit tail |
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| Long-billed Pipit tail |
