The fawn-coloured lark (''Calendulauda africanoides'') or fawn-coloured bush-lark 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 south-central Africa.

Taxonomy and systematics

Formerly, the fawn-coloured 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.

Subspecies

Eight

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 recognised: * ''C. a. intercedens'' (

Reichenow Anton Reichenow (1 August 1847 in Charlottenburg – 6 July 1941 in Hamburg) was a German ornithologist and herpetologist. Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Natural History Museum of Berlin from 1874 to 1921. He was ...

, 1895) – east, south Ethiopia and west Somalia to east Uganda, Kenya and north Tanzania * ''C. a. alopex'' ( Sharpe, 1890) – extreme east Ethiopia and north Somalia * ''C. a. trapnelli'' (White, CMN, 1943) – southeast Angola and southwest Zambia * ''C. a. harei'' ( Roberts, 1917) – central Namibia to southwest Botswana and northwest South Africa * ''C. a. makarikari'' (Roberts, 1932) – southwest Angola and north Namibia to west Zambia and north, central Botswana * ''C. a. sarwensis'' (Roberts, 1932) – west Botswana, east Namibia and central north South Africa * ''C. a. vincenti'' (Roberts, 1938) – central Zimbabwe and south Mozambique * ''C. a. africanoides'' ( Smith, A, 1836) – south Namibia, south, east Botswana, southwest Zimbabwe and north South Africa The subspecies ''C. a. intercedens'' and ''C. a. alopex'' were formerly separated as the foxy lark. They were lumped with the fawn-colored lark based on the results of a large 2024 molecular genetic study of the

Per Alström ''Per'' Johan Alström (born 9 April 1961) is a Swedish Professor of ornithology. He does research in Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, systematics, and evolution, with birds in Asia as a specialty. Alström works at the Department of Ecology and Genet ...

and collaborators that found only shallow

genetic divergence Genetic divergence is the process in which two or more populations of an ancestral species accumulate independent genetic changes ( mutations) through time, often leading to reproductive isolation and continued mutation even after the populations h ...

Distribution and habitat

The

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

of the fawn-coloured lark is broadly spread, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,400,000 km². It can be found in the countries of Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

References

External links

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