Rufous-naped Lark © pinterest.com

Unknown to Mali (B) (NB).

May form a superspecies with Red-winged Lark (Mirafra hypermetra), possibly also including Somali Lark (Mirafra somalica). Sometimes considered conspecific with Red-winged Lark (Mirafra hypermetra), but the two are morphologically and vocally distinct, with no intermediate forms where their ranges meet in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Geographical variation extreme, and future studies likely to reveal that several subspecies, especially among isolated populations in west, central and north-eastern Africa, should be treated as separate species; likely candidates for future splits include malbranti, which has a quite distinct aerial display and may be more closely related to Angola Lark (Mirafra angolensis), and sharpii, which has distinctive plumage. Conversely, differences among many contiguous subspecies are broadly clinal, and further study may reveal that several taxa are untenable. A full review is required.

Other described subspecies, all considered insufficiently distinct, include anchietae (Huí­la, in south-western Angola), irwini (Cuando Cubango, in south-eastern Angola), zuluensis (Maputa, in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal) and rostrata (coastal south-eastern South Africa).

The following 23 subspecies are recognised:

• henrici Bates, 1930   -  South-eastern Guinea, northern Sierra Leone, northern Liberia and extreme western Ivory Coast.
• batesi Bannerman, 1923   -  South-eastern Niger, western Chad and central (possibly also north-east) Nigeria.
• bamendae Serle, 1959   -  Western Cameroon, possibly also adjacent eastern Nigeria.
• stresemanni Bannerman, 1923   -  Central Cameroon (Adamawa Plateau).
• kurrae Lynes, 1923   -  Western Sudan.
• sharpii Elliot, DG, 1897   -  North-western Somalia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Sharpe's Lark (Mirafra sharpii).
• malbranti Chapin, 1946   -  Eastern Gabon, south-central PRCongo and adjacent south-western DRCongo.
• ruwenzoria Kinnear, 1921   -  Eastern DRCongo and south-western Uganda.
• tropicalis Hartert, 1900   -  Eastern Uganda, south-western Kenya and north-western Tanzania.
• athi Hartert, 1900   -  Central Kenya and northern Tanzania.
• harterti Neumann, 1908   -  Southern Kenya.
• occidentalis (Hartlaub, 1857)   -  Western Angola.
• kabalii White, CMN, 1943   -  Eastern Angola (Lunda Sul and northern Moxico) and north-western Zambia (Balovale).
• gomesi White, CMN, 1944   -  Eastern Angola (eastern Moxico) and western Zambia (Kabompo).
• chapini Grant, CHB & Mackworth-Praed, 1939   -  South-eastern DRCongo and north-western Zambia.
• nyikae Benson, 1939   -  North-eastern Zambia, adjacent south-western Tanzania and northern Malawi.
• nigrescens Reichenow, 1900   -  Southern Tanzania (Kitulu Plateau).
• isolata Clancey, 1956   -  South-eastern Malawi.
• pallida Sharpe, 1902   -  Southern Angola (south-western Cuando Cubango) and northern Namibia.
• ghansiensis (Roberts, 1932)   -  Eastern Namibia and western Botswana.
• grisescens Sharpe, 1902   -  Northern Botswana, western Zambia and north-western Zimbabwe.
• transvaalensis Hartert, 1900   -  Southern Tanzania and Mozambique south to northern South Africa.
• africana Smith, 1836   -  South-eastern South Africa.

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