The sabota lark (''Calendulauda sabota'') 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

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

in 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 ...

s of dry

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

, moist savannah, and subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

. It is generally sedentary but local movements occur in drier regions. The species name is derived from ''sebotha'' or ''sebothé'', the

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu languages, Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Tswanaland, ...

generic name for a lark.

Taxonomy and systematics

Formerly, the Sabota lark was classified as belonging to the genus ''

Mirafra ''Mirafra'' is a genus of lark in the family Alaudidae. Some ''Mirafra'' species are called "larks", while others are called "bush larks". They are all found in Africa except for the singing bush lark that is found through South Asia to Australi ...

'' until moved to ''Calendulauda'' in 2009. Not all authorities have followed this re-classification. Two distinctive taxa of this species are respectively known as the large-billed Sabota lark and small-billed Sabota lark. The large-billed subspecies are found in the dry to arid west and south of its range, while the small-billed subspecies are native to mesic woodlands of the north and east.

Subspecies

Nine

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognized: * Congo Sabota lark ''C. s. plebeja'' (

Cabanis Cabanis is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernard Cabanis (born 1950), French ice hockey player * George Cabanis (1815–1892), American politician * James Cabanis (1838–1920), American politician, son of George Cabanis *Jea ...

, 1875) — Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''

Alauda ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species a ...

''. Found on the Cabinda coast of north-western

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

* Benguella Sabota lark ''C. s. ansorgei'' ( Sclater, WL, 1926) — Found in western Angola * Bradfield's lark ''C. s. naevia'' ( Strickland, 1853) — Formerly, some authorities considered it to be a separate species in ''Calendulauda'' or ''Mirafra''. Found in north-western

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 ...

. It has a larger bill than the other subspecies of ''C. sabota''. Several other terms have been used to name this subspecies including Damaraland Sabota lark, large-billed lark (not to be confused with another species of the same name, '' Galerida magnirostris'') and Somali fawn-coloured lark. The common name commemorates South African naturalist R. D. Bradfield. * Ovampo Sabota lark ''C. s. waibeli'' ( Grote, 1922) — Found in northern Namibia and northern Botswana * ''C. s. herero'' ( Roberts, 1936) — Found in southern and eastern Namibia, north-western South Africa. Confusingly, this subspecies is also sometimes referred to as Bradfield's lark. * ''C. s. sabota'' (

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

, 1836) — Found in eastern

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

, central

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

and north-eastern

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 ...

* ''C. s. sabotoides'' (Roberts, 1932) — Found in central and southern Botswana, western Zimbabwe and northern South Africa * ''C. s. suffusca'' ( Clancey, 1958) — Found in south-eastern Zimbabwe, southern

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and eastern South Africa * ''C. s. bradfieldi'' (Roberts, 1928) — Found in central South Africa

Gallery

Sabota Lark - Etosha 0005 (16761249109).jpg, ''C. s. herero'' in

Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...

(large-billed) Calendulauda sabota ssp. bradfieldi, crop.jpg, ''C. s. bradfieldi'' near

Ritchie Ritchie may refer to: People Surname Given name Fictional characters *Ritchie, a character in the 1986 American science fiction movie ''Howard the Duck'' *Ritchie Tozer, on the TV series ''It's a Sin'' (TV series) * Robert Ritchie (''The Wes ...

, N. Cape
(large-billed) Sabota lark, Calendulauda sabota, at Mapungubwe National Park, Limpopo, South Africa (18126532598).jpg, ''C. s. sabotoides'' at

Mapungubwe The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (pronounced ) was an ancient state located at the confluence of the Shashe River, Shashe and Limpopo River, Limpopo rivers in South Africa, south of Great Zimbabwe. The capital's population was 5,000 by 1250, and the s ...

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

(small-billed) Sabota lark (Calendulauda sabota waibeli).jpg, cf. ''C. s. waibeli'', in Etosha National Park, Namibia
(small-billed)

References

External links

Species factsheet
- BirdLife International
Species text
- ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds'' sabota lark Birds of Southern Africa sabota lark Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Alaudidae-stub