About Motacilla clara Sharpe, 1908
This is a description of Motacilla clara Sharpe, 1908, also called the mountain wagtail. It is a slender, long-tailed wagtail with light bluish grey upperparts and white underparts marked by a narrow black breast band. Its wings are black with white feather edges and two white wing covert bars. The outer part of its tail is white, while the center of the tail is black. Its face is blackish, broken up by a white supercilium and white eyelid. Juveniles are browner than adult individuals. The mountain wagtail occurs in Afromontane regions, ranging from Guinea to Ethiopia, and extends south to South Africa. In southern Africa, it is locally common in the northern and eastern highlands of Zimbabwe, the adjoining parts of Mozambique, and ranges southwards to the Eastern Cape. The mountain wagtail normally prefers small rivers and streams in hill country. It is especially found in stretches with waterfalls, flat rocks submerged in shallow water, and hill slopes covered in forest, woodland, or dense scrub. It can also be spotted along forest paths, tracks, and roads, and is occasionally found in gardens.
