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Rusty Lark
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Rusty Lark
Calendulauda rufa
The rusty bush lark (Calendulauda rufa), also known as the rusty lark, is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found in the Sahel region of north-central Africa.
From the article Rusty bush lark on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
It is a small lark, 13–15 centimetres (5–6 in) long, rusty-brown above, with a dark tail with (unlike many larks) no white on the sides. The head has a broad buff supercilium (eyebrow). The underparts are pale to buffy, unstreaked except for a few streaks on the side of the upper breast. The bill is dark brownish above, with a pale base on the underside. The song is given in flight, and is described as 'pleasing', without any further details described. Its nest, eggs, and breeding behaviour remain unknown.
Range & habitat
The range of the rusty bush lark is large, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 470,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi). It is typically found inhabiting the dry savannah ecoregions of Chad, Mali, Niger, Sudan, and Togo. It occurs in dry savanna with scattered open Combretum woodland. Despite being listed by IUCN as 'Least Concern', none were seen between May 1931 and 2 February 2026, when one was seen in south-central Chad; this sighting resulted in the first live photographs of the species ever taken.
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
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Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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Every page naming Calendulauda rufa in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1583828.