Rufous-naped lark

Rufous-naped lark
adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alaudidae
Genus: Mirafra
Species: M. africana
Binomial name
Mirafra africana
Smith, 1836
range

The Rufous-naped lark (Mirafra africana) is a widespread and conspicuous species of lark in the lightly wooded grasslands and savannas of the Afrotropics. Males attract attention to themselves by their bold and repeated wing-fluttering displays from prominent perches, which is accompanied by a melodious and far-carrying whistle. It is a smaller version of the Red-winged lark of East Africa, with a finer bill and shorter tail.[2]

Range

The Rufous-naped lark has a very large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 5,600,000 km2.[1] It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Habitat

Its natural habitats are dry savannah and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.

Relationships

The race sharpii is sometimes (e.g., by Sibley and Monroe) regarded as a separate species, named the Somali lark. Furthermore there is another species, the Somali long-billed lark M. somalica, which is called the Somali lark by some authorities, e.g., Clements.

Adult M. a. athi
Juvenile in the Serengeti, Tanzania

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2012). "Mirafra africana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Sinclair, Ian; Ryan, Peter (2010). Birds of Africa south of the Sahara (2nd ed.). Cape Town: Struik Nature. p. 330. ISBN 9781770076235.
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