Cape Longclaw

It is interesting to note the complete dissimilarity between the English and Afrikaans names for this bird. The Afrikaans name seems, in a way, to make a bit more sense. Look at the bird. The orange throat is very visible and equally descriptive. Admittedly the kalkoentjie (small turkey) part is not so glaringly obvious and one wonders where that comes from.

- Koos Pieters

However you are never going to miss a turkey when it crosses your path, and neither should you miss this striking and brightly-coloured little bird when you stumble across it.

The English name, on the other hand, clearly refers to the unusually long claw on the hind toe, but (given the fact that they spend much of their lives foraging in grassy surrounds) you’d have to wonder how visible their claws are to the average onlooker. And why call it Cape Long claw if the bird occurs nowhere in the Cape accept for a narrow coastal belt of the western and southern Cape, and then all over the Free State and Gauteng, and even in parts of Zimbabwe? Strange, indeed, particularly taking into account that it was previously aptly called the Orange throated Long claw.