SANParks.org Forums

Someone please help me id this bird.
I saw it on the H1-7 north of Babalala.


Some kind of lark or pipit?

Dusky Lark. There were quite a few around Letaba when we were there in February/March this year.

Hmm, I would suggest Sabota Lark. Dusky Lark has a rather erect stance and also pale legs. The stance of this bird is more like Sabota and also the rather bold white eyebrow stripe present on this bird. Dusky has no real eyebrow to speak of.

It does look more like the Sabota Lark, I must agree.
Just wonder why the legs are so red, when even my Roberts Guide describes them as being pinkish or flesh brown, can they have that variation?

I'm of the opinion that most legs are slightly redder/pinker than indicated in fieldguides. Also if you look at this photo it looks like early morning and the sun is shining straight on the legs which will give them a redder look to them

Sabota Lark is a new tick for me. That means the bird species count for my last trip is 108.

Thanks again for your help!

can anyone help with this one?

seen close to gudzani dam on S41

I thought it could be a kind of cristicola (cloud? wing-snapping?).. or am I completely wrong and it's a kind of lark?

thanks for your help

Looks like a Sabota Lark to me.

Hi Guys

I need some input on these LBJs:

This first one was taken around the short grasslands of the H7 near Orpen:





and this second one, a rather heavy billed fellow on the S61 just before Klopperfontein:

mountainview, I wouldn't give bill-shape much credence when looking at Sabota's Larks (SL is my call for all your pix, btw). Bill-shape and -size are notoriously variable in this species, even in the same area!

@MV:
For some reason my browser won't show your second bird but the first one definitely looks like Sabota Lark. As JvR pointed out this bird can show quite a lot of variation in the size of the bill. I think this was one of the reasons why Bradfield's Lark was ultimately lumped with Sabota again.

Bird observed in the vicinity of Satara rest camp the 09th of September 2007. Is this an African (grassveld) Pipit?



Again thanks for your patience helping me out with identifying some of our observations during our Holidays in September.

I think that's a Sabota lark, BT. And a very nice pic of it!

Great ID call, arks! You are getting quite proficient at this

BTW, one of the surest ways to differentiate between larks and pipits (if you can see the legs, like in this very good shot) check the scaling on the legs... on a pipit the front of the legs is covered by five or six large reclangular scales while the larks show more scales much squarer in shape.