Southern, central and eastern Africa, south-east of a line from Angola through the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Sudan. It is also found in south-western Arabia.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
African Pipit (Anthus cinnamomeus) [XC279817]
by Rob van Bemmelen from Creighton area, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa (song)
African Pipit (Anthus cinnamomeus) [XC746224]
by Dries Van de Loock from Abha, Aseer Province, Saudi Arabia (call)
Subspecies
Richard's Pipit (Anthus richardi), African Pipit (Anthus cinnamomeus), Cameroon Pipit (Anthus camaroonensis) and Kenya populations of Jackson's Pipit (Anthus latistriatus) have been lumped into Anthus richardi following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993). Southern populations of Jackson's Pipit (Anthus latistriatus) have been lumped into Anthus similis also following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993).
May form a superspecies with Australasian Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), Richard's Pipit (Anthus richardi) and Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus), and all were formerly treated as conspecific. Recent DNA studies, however, do not support a close relationship between them. Some research suggests that present species is more closely related to Long-billed Pipit (Anthus similis). Has been considered to include Jackson's Pipit (Anthus latistriatus) as a subspecies. Conversely, winterbottomi sometimes treated as a subspecies of Jackson's Pipit (Anthus latistriatus) or of Long-billed Pipit (Anthus similis), and has been synonymized with nominate subspecies of Woodland Pipit (Anthus nyassae) by some authors. Subspecies camaroonensis sometimes considered a separate species. Described subspecies katangae (from L Musole, in south-eastern DRCongo) merged with lichenya.
The following 15 subspecies are recognised:
lynesi Bannerman & Bates, 1926 - South-eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, western Chad and western Sudan.
camaroonensis Shelley, 1900 - Western Cameroon (Mt Manenguba, Mt Cameroon). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Cameroon Pipit (Anthus camaroonensis).
stabilis Clancey, 1986 - Central and south-eastern Sudan.
cinnamomeus Rüppell, 1840 - Western and south-eastern Ethiopian Highlands.
eximius Clancey, 1986 - South-western Arabia.
annae Meinertzhagen, R, 1921 - Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, south-eastern Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania.
itombwensis Prigogine, 1982 - Highlands of eastern DRCongo.
lacuum Meinertzhagen, R, 1920 - South-eastern Uganda, western and southern Kenya and northern and central Tanzania.
winterbottomi Clancey, 1985 - Highlands of north-eastern Zambia, northern Malawi, southern Tanzania and north-western Mozambique.
lichenya Vincent, 1933 - North-eastern Angola, southern and eastern DRCongo, and from western Uganda south to northern and eastern Zambia, central Malawi, adjacent north-western Mozambique, and Zimbabwe plateau.
spurium Clancey, 1951 - South-eastern Tanzania south to north-eastern Namibia, Zambezi Valley and coastal lowlands of Mozambique.
bocagii Nicholson, 1884 - Western and southern Angola south to north-western South Africa (Northern Cape).
grotei Niethammer, 1957 - Northern Namibia and northern Botswana.
rufuloides Roberts, 1936 - South Africa (except north-west), Swaziland and Lesotho lowlands.
latistriatus Jackson, 1899 - Highlands of south-western Uganda, north-western Tanzania and western Kenya. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Jackson's Pipit (Anthus latistriatus).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet