White-tailed Lark
Mirafra albicauda
A small, compact lark with blackish upperparts that appear very scaly in fresh plumage, a bold whitish eyebrow that starts in front of the eye, and a pale belly that contrasts strongly with blotchy blackish breast streaks. The stout bill is bicolored: pale below and dark on the tip and ridge of the upper mandible. Tail is mostly dark with bold white outer feathers that are conspicuous in flight. Resident in cropped grassland, mostly on black cotton soils, preferring lake edges. Somewhat furtive, preferring to dart into cover rather than parade in the open. Sings a rambling set of whistles, churrs, and chips in a protracted aerial display, lacking trills and with a simpler structure than Singing Bushlark. Other similar larks are less strongly contrasting, with more tawny-gray tones in the plumage.
Taxonomy
Alternate names for the white-tailed lark include northern white-tailed bush lark, northern white-tailed lark and white-tailed bush lark.
- Scientific name
- Mirafra albicauda
- Authority
- Reichenow, 1891
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Mirafra
Range and habitat
The white-tailed lark is found in western Chad, eastern Sudan, north-eastern South Sudan, south-central Ethiopia, and from Uganda and western Kenya to central Tanzania. It occurs mainly around Lake Chad and Lake Victoria.<p>The natural habitat of M. albicauda is tropical to subtropical, seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Monte Yellow-Finch
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Cuban Palm-Crow
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