Agulhas Long-billed Lark (Certhilauda brevirostris) [XC395151]
by Frank Lambert from Mossel Bay, South Cape DC, Western Cape, South Africa (song)
Agulhas Long-billed Lark (Certhilauda brevirostris) [XC62564]
by Ethan Kistler from De Hoop Nature Reserve, South Africa (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Certhilauda curvirostris (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Cape Long-billed Lark (Certhilauda curvirostris) (including brevirostris), Karoo Long-billed Lark (Certhilauda subcoronata) (including damarensis and benguelensis) and Eastern Long-billed Lark (Certhilauda semitorquata) by the BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group following review of museum material and the arguments presented in Ryan and Bloomer (1999). Ryan and Bloomer (1999), in addition to splitting curvirostris, subcoronata and semitorquata, propose elevating brevirostris and benguelensis to species level, but this treatment, based largely on genetic evidence, is not supported by morphological and vocal evidence from museum specimens and scientific and popular literature. There is evident ambiguity in the placement of subspecies and differences between them are slight.
All members of genus with exception of Short-clawed Lark (Certhilauda chuana) formerly treated as a single species, but recent research indicates that they are genetically, morphologically and vocally distinct. Appears to be sister-species of Cape Long-billed Lark (Certhilauda curvirostris) (ranges apparently separated by Cape fold mountains, but boundary in Gouda-Tulbagh area not well known), and genetic data suggest that they are closely related to Eastern Long-billed Lark (Certhilauda semitorquata). Possibly overlaps in range with C. subcoronata in Breede Valley.