Grey-backed Sparrow-Lark (Eremopterix verticalis) [XC288401]
by Peter Boesman from Aberdeen Plain (near Rietbron), Western District, Eastern Cape, South Africa (call)
Grey-backed Sparrow-Lark (Eremopterix verticalis) [XC515496]
by Dawie de Swardt from Koa Dunes (near Aggeneys), Namakwa, Northern Cape, South Africa (call)
Subspecies
Relationships uncertain. Suggested as forming a superspecies with Chestnut-headed Sparrow-Lark (Eremopterix signatus), sometimes expanded to include also Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark (Eremopterix nigriceps) and Fischer's Sparrow-Lark (Eremopterix leucopareia). Precise breeding ranges of subspecies inadequately understood. Birds breeding in south-western Zambia of uncertain racial identity and presumably include harti, but all four subspecies recorded in that country.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
damarensis Roberts, 1931 - Coastal Angola (including Cabinda), Namibia, western Botswana and north-western South Africa; periodic eruptions east to western Zambia and western Zimbabwe.
harti Benson & Irwin, 1965 - Western Zambia.
khama Irwin, 1957 - North-eastern Botswana and western Zimbabwe; periodic eruptions north-east to western Zambia.
verticalis (Smith, 1836) - South-western Zimbabwe, south-eastern Botswana and South Africa (except north-west); periodic eruptions north to western Zambia.