Warbla · Library
Cape wagtail
Motacilla capensis · Family Motacillidae
Motacilla capensis
Family Motacillidae
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
- GBIF occurrence records
- 501,888
- Countries and territories with records
- 19
About this species
This species has 501,888 occurrence records from 19 countries and territories (GBIF, 21 October 2026). Most records come from South Africa (94.5%) and Namibia (2.5%); together they account for 97.1% of the total. In South Africa, this species accounts for 1.2% of all bird records in GBIF.
The scientific name Motacilla capensis combines the genus name Motacilla with the species epithet capensis. The Warbla app catalog lists 13 species of the genus Motacilla; apart from this one, those with the most GBIF records are Motacilla alba, Motacilla flava and Motacilla cinerea.
The catalog has GBIF record counts for 68 species of the family Motacillidae. This species ranks 8th among them; the family’s most-recorded species is Motacilla alba. Its record count is 1.6 times the family average (323,139). The family Motacillidae belongs to the order Passeriformes, which has 6,193 species in the Warbla app catalog.