Cape Bunting (Emberiza capensis) [XC347614]
by James Lidster from Namibgrens guest farm, Namibia (call)
Cape Bunting (Emberiza capensis) [XC392478]
by Alan Collett from Bain's Kloof, Wellington, Western Cape, South Africa (call)
Subspecies
Distinctive north-eastern subspecies vincenti sometimes treated as a separate species. Considerable geographical variation in plumage tone, but validity of large number of subspecies questionable; proposed subspecies media (described from Deelfontein, in Northern Cape) is synonymized with cinnamomea.
bradfieldi (Roberts, 1928) - Northern and central Namibia.
capensis Linnaeus, 1766 - Southern Namibia south to south-western South Africa (Western Cape).
vinacea Clancey, 1963 - North-eastern northern Cape (South Africa).
cinnamomea (Lichtenstein, MHK, 1842) - Southern northern Cape and eastern Cape east to western Free State (South Africa).
vincenti (P. R. Lowe, 1932) - Locally in highlands of south-eastern Zambia, southern Malawi, adjacent Mozambique and extreme south-western Tanzania.
plowesi (Vincent, 1950) - North-eastern Botswana and Zimbabwe (east to Nyange, in eastern highlands).
smithersii (Plowes, 1951) - Chimanimani Mts, in eastern Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique.
limpopoensis (Roberts, 1924) - South-eastern Botswana and adjacent South Africa (North West and Limpopo Provinces).
basutoensis (Vincent, 1950) - Breeds Lesotho highlands and adjacent eastern South Africa (western KwaZulu-Natal); post-breeding movement to lower elevations.
reidi (Shelley, 1902) - Lowlands of Lesotho and eastern Free State east to western Swaziland and interior of KwaZulu-Natal.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet