Rufous-naped Lark

Mirafra africana - Alouette à nuque rousse

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult
Systematics
  • Order 
    :

    Passeriformes

  • Family
    :

    Alaudidés

  • Genus
    :

    Mirafra

  • Species
    :

    africana

Descriptor

Smith, A, 1836

Biometrics
  • Size
    : 20 cm
  • Wingspan
    : -
  • Weight
    : 33 à 55 g
Geographic range

Distribution

Identification

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult
Alouette à nuque rousse
juvenile

The Rufous-naped Lark is a large, bulky looking lark, with wide wings and a relatively short tail. Its plumage, like most other larks, is cryptic, entirely in shades of cream, browns and tawny. And like other larks of the Mirafra genus, the primary remiges are largely chestnut-colored.
The head pattern is typical. The beak is long and strong, curved in appearance (this effect is due to the curved culmen and commissure) and bicolored, upper jaw generally chestnut brown and lower jaw rosaceous. Viewed from the front, the head appears clear and uniform. This aspect is due to the reddish-cream eyebrows, the lores of the same color, and finally the pale cheeks and ear coverts. This uniformity is accentuated by the white of the throat, but broken by the blackish streaks of the forehead. A short chestnut erectile crest crowns the top of the skull. The chestnut color of this crest, particularly visible when the excited bird exhibits it, especially when singing, can go completely unnoticed when it is flattened on the head, the chestnut then being masked by the black brown of the tip of the feathers forming a hardly streaked dark crown.
On the other hand, the nape is not chestnut as suggested by the bird's name.
The irises are brown, giving the eye a dark appearance.
The upper parts show a combination of browns, creams and chestnuts, with a striped appearance.
The chestnut of the remiges forms an already well visible wing panel on the closed wing. But when the Rufous-naped Lark opens its wings, for example during sequences of singing, the chestnut patches on the wing jump out.
The tail is dark-brown, with the outer rectrices bordered in chestnut.
The underparts are light. Viewed from the front, one can make out a pectoral band made of dark streaks of the same shade as the cap, against a light chestnut shaded background.The belly and flanks are cream to rusty brown in colour, the intensity of the red varying depending on the subspecies. The legs are pinkish or rosy.

Subspecific information 22 subspecies

  • Mirafra africana africana (se South Africa)
  • Mirafra africana henrici (Guinea to sw Ivory Coast)
  • Mirafra africana batesi (c Nigeria to se Niger and w Chad)
  • Mirafra africana stresemanni (nc Cameroon)
  • Mirafra africana bamendae (w Cameroon)
  • Mirafra africana kurrae (w Sudan)
  • Mirafra africana tropicalis (e Uganda and w Kenya to nw Tanzania)
  • Mirafra africana ruwenzoria (e DRCongo to sw Uganda)
  • Mirafra africana athi (c Kenya to ne Tanzania)
  • Mirafra africana harterti (sc Kenya)
  • Mirafra africana malbranti (Gabon to s DRCongo)
  • Mirafra africana chapini (se DRCongo and nw Zambia)
  • Mirafra africana occidentalis (w Angola)
  • Mirafra africana kabalii (ne Angola and nw Zambia)
  • Mirafra africana gomesi (e Angola and w Zambia)
  • Mirafra africana grisescens (w Zambia,n Botswana and nw Zimbabwe)
  • Mirafra africana pallida (sw Angola and nw Namibia)
  • Mirafra africana ghansiensis (e Namibia and w Botswana)
  • Mirafra africana nigrescens (ne Zambia and s Tanzania)
  • Mirafra africana isolata (se Malawi)
  • Mirafra africana nyikae (e Zambia, n Malawi and sw Tanzania)
  • Mirafra africana transvaalensis (Tanzania to n South Africa)

Foreign names

  • Alouette à nuque rousse,
  • Alondra nuquirrufa,
  • cotovia-de-nuca-vermelha,
  • Kurzhaubenlerche,
  • vörösnyakú bokorpacsirta,
  • Roodnekleeuwerik,
  • Allodola nucarossiccia,
  • rödnackad lärka,
  • Melankolilerke,
  • škovránok hnedotylový,
  • skřivan proměnlivý,
  • Rødnakket Busklærke,
  • punaniskakiuru,
  • Rooineklewerik,
  • alosa de clatell rogenc,
  • skowroniec sawannowy,
  • Африканский кустарниковый жаворонок,
  • チャエリヤブヒバリ,
  • 棕颈歌百灵,
  • 棕頸歌百靈,

Voice song and cries

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult plum. breeding

Mostly composed of three whistled notes repeated endlessly, the song of the male Rufous-naped Lark, emitted from a low support such as a termite mound, rock, or lying tree trunk is, especially during the rain season which coincides with the nesting period, a sound background that every bird enthusiast more or less consciously associates with wet savannas. At this time, it is common to hear several males singing from the same location.
The first note is slightly detached from the two following notes that follow in a slight descending pattern, often transcribed as tssiii-tsi'ou or siii-si'ou.
The male Rufous-naped Lark sings with his beak widely open and head slightly thrown back, crest raised. It is at this occasion that the identification of the Rufous-naped Lark is the easiest. It is not rare for the song to be accompanied, between two series of notes, with a vertical jump of a few centimeters, wings spread and vibrating, which resembles the characteristic behavior of other larks of the genus Mirafra, such as Mirafra rufocinnamomea for example.

Habitat

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult

The Rufous-naped Lark frequents open savannas with little to no foliage, from sea level to 3,000 m. It can also be found in meadows used by humans, provided there are singing perches available: stones, low bushes, fences, etc.

Behaviour character trait

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult plum. breeding

The Rufous-naped Lark searches for food on the ground, scratching with its feet and beak to find insects and other invertebrates. Although it may seem bold when it sings, it can be less daring and even quite shy when disturbed. Instead of taking flight, the Rufous-naped Lark may flee on foot into the vegetation.

Flight

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult

The flight is slow and irregular, punctuated by bursts of flaps, giving the whole a disorganized look.

Dietfeeding habits

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult

The Rufous-naped Lark feeds on arthropods, insects (grasshoppers, beetles, termites...), spiders, centipedes, as well as other invertebrates such as earthworms.
It also consumes seeds.
It looks for its food by scratching the ground with its feet, occasionally rummaging in the excrement of herbivores. It sometimes waits for termites that emerge from the termite mounds.

Reproduction nesting

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult

The Rufous-naped Lark is monogamous. It reproduces during the wet season. As we mentioned above, the male is territorial and tirelessly delivers his three notes, sometimes jumping in place between strophes, with rapid wingbeats.

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult
The nest is built in a shallow hollow scratched in the ground at the base of a tuft of grass or a small bush. This nest is made of grass and other vegetation elements, and intertwined in the vegetation that overhangs it to form a more or less complete dome roof. When the roof is complete, the entrance is on the side.
The laying is 2-3 eggs, rarely 4, covered by the female. She flees when disturbed and does not return to her eggs until she hears a sound signal from the male. The incubation period is unknown.
The chicks are looked after by the female but fed by both parents. They leave the nest after 10 to 12 days, before being able to fly.

Geographic range

Alouette à nuque rousse
adult

The Rufous-naped Lark is a sub-Saharan species, mainly found in East and Southern Africa, except for its western part. In West Africa, its distribution is fragmented.

Threats - protection

Alouette à nuque rousse
juvenile
IUCN conservation status
Extinct
Threatened
Least
concern
Extinc
in the Wild
Near
threatened
Not
evaluated
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC NE

The Rufous-naped Lark is the most common African lark species and has the widest distribution area. Therefore, it is not globally threatened. However, populations may suffer from habitat loss due to cereal cultivation, although on the other hand they can benefit from farming, which tends to make the pastures more favourable to this species.

Sources of information

Other sources of interest

QRcode Alouette à nuque rousseSpecification sheet created on 30/07/2023 by
Translation by AI Oiseaux.net
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