Flappet lark

Flappet lark
A. r. fischeri in the DRC
A. r. kawirondensis in Uganda
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Alaudidae
Genus:	Amirafra
Species:	A. rufocinnamomea
Binomial name
Amirafra rufocinnamomea (Salvadori, 1866)
Subspecies
See text
resident range [2]
Synonyms
Megalophonus rufocinnamomea Mirafra fischeri Mirafra rufo-cinnamomea

The flappet lark (Amirafra rufocinnamomea) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae that is widespread across Sub-Saharan Africa. The name flappet originates from the distinctive wing flapping sound made during its breeding season. ^[3]

Taxonomy and systematics

The flappet lark and the Cape clapper lark are regarded as forming a superspecies with the Eastern clapper lark. ^[4] The alternate name "cinnamon bush lark" is also an alternate name for the singing bush lark.

The flappet lark was formerly placed in the genus Mirafra . It is one of three species that were moved to the resurrected genus Amirafra based on the results of a large molecular genetic study by the Swedish ornithologist Per Alström and collaborators that was published in 2023. ^{[5] [6]}

Subspecies

Fifteen subspecies are recognised: ^[5]

• A. r. buckleyi (Shelley, 1873) – south Mauritania and Senegal to north Cameroon
• A. r. serlei (White, CMN, 1960) – southeast Nigeria
• A. r. tigrina (Oustalet, 1892) – east Cameroon to north DR Congo
• A. r. furensis (Lynes, 1923) – central west Sudan
• A. r. sobatensis (Lynes, 1914) – central Sudan
• A. r. rufocinnamomea (Salvadori, 1866) – northwest, central Ethiopia
• A. r. omoensis (Neumann, 1928) – southwest Ethiopia
• A. r. torrida (Shelley, 1882) – southeast Sudan and south Ethiopia to north Uganda, central Kenya and central Tanzania
• A. r. kawirondensis (Van Someren, 1921) – east DR Congo, west Uganda and west Kenya
• A. r. fischeri (Reichenow, 1878) – Angola, south DR Congo, north Zambia and north Mozambique north through east Tanzania, east Kenya to south Somalia
• A. r. schoutedeni (White, CMN, 1956) – Gabon and Central African Republic to west DR Congo and northwest Angola
• A. r. lwenarum (White, CMN, 1945) – northwest Zambia
• A. r. smithersi (White, CMN, 1956) – north Zambia, Zimbabwe, northeast Botswana and north South Africa
• A. r. pintoi (White, CMN, 1956) – south Mozambique, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and northeast South Africa
• A. r. mababiensis (Roberts, 1932) – west Zambia to central Botswana

Distribution and habitat

The flappet lark has a large range covering much of the African continent with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km². ^[1] Its natural habitats are dry savannah, moist savannah, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.

References

1. BirdLife International (2017). "Mirafra rufocinnamomea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017 e.T22717068A118709779. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22717068A118709779.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
2. Based on maps in the Handbook of the Birds of the World and the BirdLife data zone
3. Wingflap Dialects in the Flappet Lark https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/75566/j.1474-919X.1973.tb02644.x.pdf?sequence=1
4. Keith, Stuart; Urban, Emil K.; Martin., Woodcock; Ian., Willis (2000-01-01). The birds of Africa. Vol. 6. Academic Press. ISBN   0-12-137306-1. OCLC   59539112.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Nicators, Bearded Reedling, larks". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
6. Alström, P.; Mohammadi, Z.; Enbody, E.D.; Irestedt, M.; Engelbrecht, D.; Crochet, P.-A.; Guillaumet, A.; Rancilhac, L.; Tieleman, B.I.; Olsson, U.; Donald, P.F.; Stervander, M. (2023). "Systematics of the avian family Alaudidae using multilocus and genomic data" (PDF). Avian Research. 14 100095. doi: 10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100095 .

External links

• Species factsheet ^{[ permanent dead link ]} - BirdLife International
• Species text - The Atlas of Southern African Birds