Gillett's lark explained

Gillett's lark (Calendulauda gilletti) or Gillett's bushlark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found in eastern Africa.

Taxonomy

Gillett's lark was formerly placed in the genus Mirafra. It was moved to Calendulauda based on its vocalizations and plumage combined with the results of a large molecular genetic study of the Alaudidae by Per Alström and collaborators that was published in 2023.^{[1] [2]}

Three subspecies are recognised:^[1]

• C. g. gilletti (Sharpe, 1895) – east Ethiopia and northwest Somalia (Degodi lark)
• C. g. degodiensis (Érard, 1976) – southeast Ethiopia
• C. g. arorihensis (Érard, 1976) – central Somalia to northeast Kenya

Distribution and habitat

Gillett's lark has a somewhat wide range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 690000km2 over Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

Its natural habitats are dry savannah and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.

References

• Web site: Gillett's Lark - BirdLife Species Factsheet . Compilers: Stuart Butchart, Jonathan Ekstrom . Evaluators: Jeremy Bird, Stuart Butchart . . 2008 . May 6, 2009.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . August 2024 . Nicators, Bearded Reedling, larks . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 9 September 2024 .
2. Alström . P. . Per Alström . 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 . Avian Research . 14 . 100095 . 10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100095 . free.