Pangani Longclaw Macronyx aurantiigula Scientific name definitions

19–20 cm; 36·6–43 g. Male has orange-yellow supercilium to above eye, white behind eye, cinnamon-brown ear-coverts; above , dark olive-brown to brownish-black with pale feather edges, giving scaly effect; wings olive-brown, outer edges of primaries fringed pale yellow, other feathers fringed buff; tail feathers dark olive-brown, central pair fringed buffish, rest with pale buff fringes and white tip, amount of white progressively increasing outwards, outermost rectrix mostly white with buff tinge; chin, malar region, throat and foreneck orange-yellow or deep yellow, entirely bordered by blackish moustachial stripe and necklace; breast side buff, centre of breast and belly, and sometimes thighs, deep yellow, belly side and undertail-coverts white to whitish-buff, brownish-black streaking on breast and flanks, olive-brown streaks on undertail-coverts; axillaries white; iris darkish brown; bill brown to black, lower mandible paler with dark tip; legs pale brown, tinged flesh. Distinguished from very similar M. croceus mainly by smaller size, more orange throat patch, narrower breastband, less extensive yellow below, more streaking below. Female has supercilium less yellow, is paler yellow below, necklace narrower. Immature is mainly buffish below, some yellow on breast, breastband broken and poorly defined.

Dry grassland with acacia trees (Acacia) and bushes , and coastal grassland; also on higher, moister grassland in NE Tanzania; open areas and light woodland in Somalia. Not associated with water. Generally below 1000 m; up to 1800 m in NE Tanzania. Slight overlap with M. ameliae on Ardai Plains, in Tanzania; also occurs together with M. croceus in coastal Kenya, both in parkland along lower R Tana and in acacia bush near Mombasa.