Singing Lark (Mirafra cantillans)

Other Names (World)
Singing Lark, Singing Bushlark, Western Singing Bushlark, African Singing Bushlark (chadensis, marginata), Singing Bush Lark

Family
Alaudidae (Larks)

Size
14 cm

First Described (Guide)
Blyth, 1844

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland dry grassland, dry savanna. From sea-level - 1,300 m.

Range (Guide)

Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, India, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal (B), Niger, Nigeria, Oman (B), Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Uganda, Yemen.

Vagrant to Togo.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status NR
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (27)...)

Singing Bush Lark (Mirafra cantillans) [XC114273]
by Bram Piot from Salalah, Dhofar, Oman (song)

Singing Bush Lark (Mirafra cantillans) [XC650065]
by Gregory Askew from Al Husayni, Sabyaa, Jazan, Saudi Arabia (song)

Subspecies
Possibly forms a superspecies with Horsfield's Bushlark (Mirafra javanica), White-tailed Lark (Mirafra albicauda), Monotonous Lark (Mirafra passerina) and Melodious Lark (Mirafra cheniana). Frequently treated as conspecific with Horsfield's Bushlark (Mirafra javanica), and probably closest to and sister-taxon of that species, from which it differs by 1�8% in cytochrome b sequences. Some evidence that disjunct nominate subspecies of Indian Subcontinent is distinct from the Afrotropical populations. Further study is needed.

The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

chadensis Alexander, 1908 - Sahel zone of Africa from Senegal east to western Eritrea.
marginata Hawker, 1898 - Southern Eritrea, north-eastern Ethiopia, north-western and southern Somalia, southern Sudan, north-eastern Uganda, north-west, central and southern Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania.
simplex (Heuglin, 1868) - South-western Saudi Arabia, Yemen and western Oman.
cantillans Blyth, 1844 - Northern and southern Pakistan, India, western Nepal and south-eastern Bangladesh.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Singing Lark (Mirafra cantillans) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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