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Mirafra apiata (Cape clapper
lark)
Kaapse klappertjie [Afrikaans]; ’Mote, Semote [South
Sotho]; Sebotha (generic term for lark) [Tswana]; Klapperleeuwerik
[Dutch]; Alouette bateleuse [French]; Grasklapperlerche [German];
Cotovia-batedora [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) >
Order: Passeriformes > Family: Alaudidae
> Genus: Mirafra
Distribution and habitat
Endemic to South Africa, occurring from the Eastern Cape
though to the Western and Northern Cape, possibly occupying the extreme south of
Namibia. It generally prefers dense dwarf shrubland, such as sandplain, mesic or
arid fynbos and succulent Karoo, also occurring in cereal crops adjacent to
natural vegetation and in fallow fields with adequate cover.
Food
It eats insects supplemented with seeds of plants such as
bushman grasses (Stipagrostis) and forbs (incl. Galenia). It does
most of its foraging on the ground, gleaning food items from bare soil and the
bases of grass tufts.
Breeding
- The nest is a partially domed cup built of dry grass and lined with finer
material, such as rootlets or occasionally wool. It is typically placed in a
scrape or hollow in the ground at the base of a grass tuft or forb.
- Egg-laying season is from August-November, peaking from
September-October.
- It lays 2-3 white, densely speckled eggs.
Threats
Not threatened.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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