The sun lark (''Galerida modesta'') or Nigerian sun 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 occu ...

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 occu ...

. Its range extends mainly across the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

region (south of the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

), from Guinea to South Sudan. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are dry

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

and subtropical or tropical dry lowland

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Subspecies

Four

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized: * ''G. m. modesta'' - Heuglin, 1864: Found from Burkina Faso and northern Ghana east to southern Sudan * Fouta-Djallon sun lark (''G. m. nigrita'') - ( Grote, 1920): Found in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and southern Mali * Ngaundere sun lark (''G. m. struempelli'', also as ''G. m. saturata'', ''G. m. strumpelli'' and ''G. m. strümpelli'') - (

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 ...

, 1910): Originally classified as a separate species in 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 found from Africa through South Asia to Australia. Taxonomy and systematics The phylogeny of lark ...

''. Found in Cameroon * Uele sun lark (''G. m. bucolica'') - ( Hartlaub, 1887): Originally classified as a separate species in genus ''Mirafra''. Found in south-eastern Central African Republic, north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and extreme north-western Uganda

References

sun lark The sun lark (''Galerida modesta'') or Nigerian sun lark, is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. Its range extends mainly across the Sudan region (south of the Sahel), from Guinea to South Sudan. Its natural habitats are dry savannah and ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Taxa named by Theodor von Heuglin Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Alaudidae-stub