Eastern clapper lark

Eastern clapper lark
At Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa
Conservation status
Not recognized (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Alaudidae
Genus:	Mirafra
Species:	M. fasciolata
Binomial name
Mirafra fasciolata (Sundevall, 1850)
Distribution

The eastern clapper lark (Mirafra fasciolata) is a small passerine bird which breeds in southern Africa. It derives its name from the wing clapping which forms part of its display flight.

This species and the Cape clapper lark were formerly considered conspecifc.

Fry, Keith and Urban, in The Birds of Africa, regard this species and the Cape clapper lark as forming a superspecies with M. rufocinnamomea, the flappet lark, which is found further north.

The eastern clapper lark is found in much of the drier parts of southern Africa in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa.

The eastern clapper lark is a species of open grassland and savannah.

Identification

This lark is a 15-cm-long bird, with a brown crown, rich rufous underparts, and a strong bill. It has brown upperparts (greyer in the north of its range),

The display commences with an ascending flight with wing flapping. It then parachutes down with trailing legs. Its call is an ascending pooooeeeee.

Behaviour

clapping, Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa

The eastern clapper lark is a skulking species, difficult to find when not displaying. It is not gregarious, and individuals tend to be seen in dry habitats feeding on the ground on seeds and insects.

References

• Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa, ISBN 1-86872-721-1