Africa Wild

494. Rufous-naped Lark Mirafra africana (Rooineklewenk)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Alaudidae



Description
15-18 cm. Sexes alike. Variable across it's range, but generally a rufous looking large stocky Lark with a heavy bill and with short but distinctive erectile rufous crest. Marked breast. Rufous nape and edges to primaries.
Distinguished by the rufous crown and wing-feather edges (usually more visible in flight than on ground), typically with much rufous colouring above and below or, in paler western birds, with white underparts faintly tinged buff and pale-edged wings.
Juvenile is darker above with buff edging to feathers.

Distribution
Although it has scattered populations across much of West Africa, the bulk of its distribution lies from Kenya and Tanzania to Angola, Zambia and southern Africa, absent from the West of the region.

Habitat
Found in a range of habitats, but always with open ground nearby.

Diet
It mainly eats arthropods supplemented with seeds, doing most of its foraging on the ground, gleaning food from the bases of plants and taking termites as they emerge from their mound.

Breeding
Monogamous and territorial. The nest is a partially or completely domed cup of dry grass, lined with finer plant material. It is typically placed in a scrape in the ground at the base of a grass tuft or shrub. Egg-laying season is from July-April, peaking from October-February. It lays 2-3, rarely 4 eggs, which are incubated for about 14-15 days. The female broods the chicks and does most of their feeding, while the male contributes to a lesser extent. The young eventually leave the nest after about 10-12 days, before they are able to fly.

Call
Mainly a tree tree-leeoo whistle. Listen to Bird Call. Characteristically sings from top of fence post, termite mound or shrub.

Status
Common resident, sedentary and usually solitary or in pairs.

494. Rufous-naped Lark Mirafra africana (Rooineklewenk)



© Joan

© Flutterby

© Pumbaa

© Flutterby
Pilanesberg

Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2

495.2 Eastern Clapper Lark Mirafra fasciolata
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Alaudidae


Despription
Mirafra fasciolata derives its name from the wing clapping which forms part of its display flight.
15-cm. 26–44 g. A medium-sized, compact stocky lark with a small bill and barred and scalloped feathers on the head and upperparts, giving it a scaly appearance. Brown crown, rich rufous underparts, Brown upperparts (greyer in the north of its range).

Subspecies
Five subspecies are recognized:
M. f. reynoldsi - Benson & Irwin, 1965: Found in northern Namibia, northern Botswana and south-western Zambia
M. f. jappi - Traylor, 1962: Found in western Namibia
M. f. nata - Smithers, 1955: Found in north-eastern Botswana
M. f. damarensis - Sharpe, 1875: Found in northern and central Namibia, western and central Botswana
M. f. fasciolata - (Sundevall, 1850): Found in south-central Botswana, northern and central South Africa

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

Habitat
It is a species of open grassland and savannah.

Breeding
The display commences with an ascending flight with wing flapping. It then parachutes down with trailing legs.

Diet
It feeds on the ground on seeds and insects.

Call
Its call is an ascending "pooooeeeee".

Status

495.2 Eastern Clapper Lark Mirafra fasciolata


Mountain Zebra National Park, August 2020 © PJL


Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, December 2019 © Michele Nel
The lark was displaying....climbs steeply with trailing legs in aerial display, clapping its wings and then parachutes down giving a long ascending whistle.

Links:
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.info/bi ... iolata.htm

497. Fawn-coloured Lark Calendulauda africanoides (Vaalbruinlewerik)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Alaudidae




Despription
This medium-sized lark is 14-16 cm long and weighs 18-25 g. The head is brown, the bill is grey. It has a white throat, underparts white and slightly streaked and spotted reddish brown, brown flight feathers, upper wing coverts streaked dark brown on red. It has yellow legs. The eyes are brown. The broad white supercilliary stripe make this a very distinctive lark. Upperpart coloration varies regionally, but the white underparts and slightly streaked breast are diagnostic.
The juvenile is more mottled than the adult.
Similar species: Sabota Lark is more heavily streaked (above and below) and has malar and moustachial stripes. Red Lark is larger with a heavier bill and more clearly marked face; upperparts darker and redder.

Distribution
Near-endemic to southern Africa, from north-central South Africa to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, marginally extending into Zambia and Angola.

Habitat
Kalahari scrub, broad-leaved savanna and thornveld; on dandy soil. The southwestern edge of its range overlaps with the range of Red Lark (504). It generally prefers habitats with sandy soils, such as fine-leaved and broad-leaved savanna, dune shrubland, and in the Northern Cape also occurring in grassland with scattered Greenhair-thorns (Parkinsonia africana).

Breeding
Monogamous and territorial. A grass dome nest is built in a scrape in the ground or at the base of a tuft of grass. Females usually lay 2 or 3 eggs between October and December or March to April. Incubation periods are around 12 days. Nestlings are fed by both parents and leave the nest after about 13 days.

Call
A jumble of harsh chips and twitterings, ending in a buzzy slur, given from treetops or during the short aerial flight. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident. The Fawn-coloured Lark is classified as Least Concern.

497. Fawn-coloured Lark Calendulauda africanoides (Vaalbruinlewerik)





© Mel

© Dewi

© Michele Nel

Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2

498. Sabota Lark Calendulauda sabota (Sabotalewerik)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Alaudidae


© BluTuna

Description
15 cm. Colour varies regionally, but this species is consistentently boldly marked above and below and lacks rufous in the outer wing. The bill is short (the lower mandible being paler). The bill size decreases from west to east. The large-billed race naevia in west is treated by some as a full species (Bradfield's Lark). White eyebrow runs from the base of the bill to the nape; black eye-stripe, white crescent below eye and moustachial and malar stripes. Sexes alike.
Juvenile similar but with more spotted appearance.
Similar species: Sabota Lark is more distinctly streaked above and on breast than Fawn-coloured Lark, which lacks moustachial and malar stripes. Rufous-naped Lark is larger, has a simpler song, a longer bill, a crest, and a reddish panel on the folded wing. Melodious Lark is smaller, has less distinct streaking on the breast and less distinct eyebrows; it also seldom sings from elevated perches (usually sings in flight).

Distribution
Near-endemic to southern Africa, occurring across much of the region and extending into western Angola.

Habitat
Thornveld and savanna.

Diet
Forages on the ground (often bare, open ground) for invertebrates, seeds, grass stems and leaves.

Breeding
Monogamous and territorial. The nest is a cup built of dry grass and lined with finer plant material, typically placed in the shade of a tuft of grass, shrub or rock. It often builds a dome over the nest to protect against sunlight, however this only done when there isn't much shade.
It lays 2-4 white speckled eggs, usually in the months from October-May (earlier in the east). Young are fed by both parents.

Call
The song of the Sabota Lark is a mixed jumble of fluty notes, and it is a master at imitating other birds' calls. Often calls from an elevated patch. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident; near-endemic, locally nomadic and usually in pairs or small family parties.

498. Sabota Lark Calendulauda sabota (Sabotalewerik)

© Guinea Pig
Kruger National Park

© Pumbaa
Kruger National Park

© Dewi
Pilanesberg

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/498.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3

503. Dune Lark Calendulauda erythrochlamys (Duinlewerik)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Alaudidae

Description
17 cm. A medium-sized lark. Dune Lark always appears long-legged, and is capable of long strides (up to 19 cm) as it runs across hot sand dunes. The unstreaked upperparts are sandy-rufous, closely matching the colour of the dunes, it inhabits. Underparts white with light rufoius streaking. Face plain with whitish eyebrow, dark brown eye-stripe and indistinct brown malar stripe. The flanks and belly appear plain, not streaked.
Similar species: The Dune Lark is closely related to three other lark species endemic to southern Africa. Fortunately the distribution ranges of
these 4 larks are mostly exclusive. Barlow's Lark is a near endemic to Namibia and which occupies a very small range in the Succulent Karoo ecosystem on the coastal plains from near Luderitz to Port Nolloth in South Africa; the Red Lark, also a range restricted species endemic to the red sand dunes of the northern Cape; and the Karoo Lark, endemic to South Africa from the Richtersveld south to the Great and Little Karoo, but which will probably be found to occur in the southern parts of Namibia when this area is more thoroughly investigated. The Dune Lark is the least streaked form with only few small breast streaks and virtually no dark centers to the upperpart feathers. Its malar and moustachial streaks are paler and less defined compared to the other species. Dune Lark's range overlaps with the northern population of Barlow's Lark.

Distribution
Endemic to Namibia's Namib Desert, ranging from the Kuiseb River in the north to the Koichab area near Luderitz in the south. It avoids the totally un-vegetated dunes near the coast in the central Namib dune belt. Most of its range is in the Namib-Naukluft Park.

Habitat
Sparsely vegetated dunes punctuated with shrubs and grasses such as Namib dune bushman grass (Stipagrostis salbulicola) and ¡Nara melons (Aconthosicyos horridus).

Diet
It eats a variety of insects and seeds, exposing sand-covered food items by digging with its bill, and catching prey aerially or gleaning from the leaves and bases of grasses. The Dune Lark does not drink water and needs as least 20-30 percent of its diet as invertebrates to metabolise enough water to survive.

Breeding
Monogamous and territorial. The nest is built solely by the female in 7-9 days, consisting of a domed cup built of coarse grass and lined with finer plant material, feathers, hair and reptile skin, often secured together with the webs of burrowing spiders. The domed nest provides shade to the female on nest duty and to her eggs or young. It is typically placed in a depression dug into sand at the base of a shrub or grass tuft, usually facing south-east. This creates the best shade and cooling effect from the prevailing wind. Egg-laying season is year-round, as it opportunistically lays its eggs after rain. It lays 1-2 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 13-14 days. The chicks are brooded by the female for the first 4 days, with both parents feeding invertebrates to the chicks during the roughly 12-14 day long nestling period. They leave before before being able to fly, hiding and skulking in vegetation.

Behaviour
It has a number of interesting behaviour patterns that help it survive in the intense heat and aridity of the Namib sand dunes. It searches for food mainly in the morning and late afternoon, running rapidly over the bare sand between patches of vegetation. The hotter it gets, the longer are the bird's strides. During the heat of the day Dune Larks disappear into the base of large shady grass clumps. They rest within these clumps usually a few cm above the ground to benefit from the cooling effect of any breeze. Temperature measurements in the central Namib show that at 13h00 when the temperature of the sand is over 50° Celsius the lark's resting place is about 33°. The birds thus avoid contact with the hot sand and radiation from the ground and sun and in this way minimize their water loss to evaporative cooling.

Status
Fairly common, localised resident; endemic.

Call
Listen to Bird Call

503. Dune Lark Calendulauda erythrochlamys (Duinlewerik)



Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
CHAMBERLAIN’S LBJs
FitzPatrick: Barlow's Lark