Sclater's lark (''Spizocorys sclateri'') is a species of

lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

in the family

Alaudidae Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

. It is found in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

subtropical or tropical dry shrubland Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and t ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The common name and the Latin binomial commemorate the British zoologist

Philip Lutley Sclater Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological Society ...

. Sclater's lark was originally placed within the genus ''

Calandrella ''Calandrella'' is a genus of larks in the family Alaudidae. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Calandrella'' was established by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829 with the greater short-toed lark as the type species. The genus n ...

'' and some authorities continue to recognise that classification. This species is alternately named as Sclater's short-toed lark.

Conservation status

Sclater's lark is classified as ''Near Threatened'' due to its scarce and localised population in the

Nama Karoo Nama Karoo is a xeric shrubland ecoregion located on the central plateau of South Africa and Namibia. It occupies most of the interior of the western half of South Africa and extends into the southern interior of Namibia. Climate The climate o ...

References

External links

Species text
- ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds''

Sclater's lark Sclater's lark (''Spizocorys sclateri'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in Namibia and South Africa. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss. Taxonomy and systemati ...

Birds of Southern Africa

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Alaudidae-stub