Mystery bird: African pipit, Anthus cinnamomeus  This African
mystery bird species is probably not identifiable from this
image, but I am interested to see how far you get anyway
African pipit, Anthus cinnamomeus, Rüppell, 1840, also known as
the grassland or grassveld pipit, or as Richard's pipit
(although that's in error because that taxon has been split from
our mystery bird), photographed somewhere near Lake Zway, a
freshwater Rift Valley lake in Ethiopia.  Image: Dan Logen, 6
February 2011 (with permission, for GrrlScientist/Guardian use
only) [velociraptorise]. Nikon D300s, 600 mm lens, f/7.1, 1/3200
sec, ISO 640  Question: This African mystery bird species is
probably not identifiable from this image, but I am interested
to see how far you get anyway. Which field mark(s) would
separate this bird from those other species it is often confused
with? Can you identify this mystery bird's taxonomic family and
species?  Response: This is an adult African pipit, Anthus
cinnamomeus, a member of the Motacillida