Ash's Lark

Characteristics 

Also known as Ash’s Bushlark 

17 cm 

31-42 grams 

Upperparts look scaly with fresh plumage (it must be said however that some Somali Larks can have the same traits in southern populations) 

Feathers have pale fringes and dark subterminal bars 

Greyish tail 

Rectrices have pale buff margins that are separated from the rest of the feather by a narrow blackish band 

Whitish underparts 

Breast and flanks are a pinkish-buff 

Dark brown eyes 

Light crest  

Buff eyebrow stripes 

Ash’s Lark is similar in structure to the Somali Lark (Corypha or Mirafra somalica) but smaller with a shorter bill and darker plumage above 

Differs from Somali Lark by being smaller, darker, and less rufous, having a shorter bill and more streaked underparts, possessing a smaller and narrower supercilium that does not extend far behind the eye, and having a narrower white on the outer tail 

Differs from Gillett's Lark (Calendulauda or Mirafra gilletti) by being bigger and having a longer bill, longer legs, and a different tail pattern (Birds of the World) 

Both Ash’s Lark and the Somali Lark have a similar complex pattern in the tertials as well as pale rufous outer webs on the primaries and secondaries that form a rufous wing-panel in flight 

Corypha or Mirafra somalica rochei is sympatric with Ash's Lark and also exists in Uarscek where the species can be found 

This lark has greyish feathers like Ash’s Lark but is more rufous on the upperparts (IUCN Red List) 

Greyish-brown above (bright cinnamon-rufous for the Somali Lark) with a faint touch of rufous or cinnamon  

Ash’s Lark is more streaked and scaly looking than the Somali Lark  

This species is smaller than the Rufous-Naped Lark (Corypha or Mirafra africana) and the Red-Winged Lark (Corypha or Mirafra hypermetra) and is more greyish and marked on the mantle than the Singing Bushlark (Mirafra javanica) and the Pink-Breasted Lark (Calendulauda or Mirafra poecilosterna) 

Ash-brown head with a light cinnamon wash to the nape and hindneck  

Feathers on the forehead have blackish-brown centers with buff to grey tips  

The longer grey-brown feathers of the crown are narrowly streaked dark brown  

No vestigial crest  

Streaking on the crown extends to the hind neck and upper back  

Feathers on the mantle, shoulders, and lower back have their centers marked with dark brown and edged with narrow dark brown subterminal bands fringed with buff to white edges that give the upperparts a scalloped appearance  

Greyish-brown rump  

Feathers narrowly edged white to buff  

Uppertail-coverts have inverted V-shaped bands of dark brown near their tips with paler buff edging  

Pale cinnamon buff wing coverts with narrow shafts marked dark brown and margined with dark brown subterminal bands edged with buffish-white  

Tertials are finely barred and pale brown with each having a dark brown central shaft, narrow dark brown subterminal bands with broad buffish white edges, faint barring, and 8 narrow grey-brown bars  

Primaries and outer secondaries have broad cinnamon margins for the base two-thirds of the length that form a panel on a closed wing with the remaining wedge-shaped portion dusky brown like the Somali Lark  

Underwing-coverts are pale cinnamon and unmarked  

Sides of face and ear-coverts are whitish with dark greyish streaks  

Ear-coverts have a cinnamon wash  

White lores  

Narrow buffish-white eye stripe that is ill-defined and does not extend much beyond the eye compared to the Somali Lark that has a well-defined eye stripe that extends to the nape  

Buffish-white throat and neck sides that are finely spotted with grey on the lower throat that enlarge to browner spots and darker streaking on the sides of the upper breast with a pale cinnamon buff  

Sides of the body and flanks are a cinnamon buff with few narrow brown streaks  

Rest of the underparts are whitish-buff to white on the belly  

Undertail-coverts are streaked dark brown like the Somali Lark  

Tail feathers are dusky brown, narrower, and more pointed than the Somali Lark  

Outer tail feathers are narrowly edged white on their inner and outer webs compared to the Somali Lark that has more conspicuous white outer tail feathers  

Creamy legs and feet  

Dark grey upper mandible  

Pale bluish-grey lower mandible  

Juveniles differ from the adults by having broad cinnamon to buffish white edges on the primaries and secondaries, being more streaked above, a browner head and back, fine, brown spots on the breast, underparts that are more cinnamon-buff, less white on the belly, shorter bills that are pale horn in color, paler legs and feet, and have more white in the outer tail feathers (Colston, 1982) 

Habitat 

Short, open grasslands in stabilized dune systems with few scattered bushes and fossil coral outcrops 

Behavior  

Runs across open ground between grass tufts and frequently perches on top of the tufts  

Even though no information has been recorded of this species’ vocal behavior, Ash’s Lark was reported as singing on the top of small bushes 

Other Information 

No information is known about this bird’s movements and breeding habits (Birds of the World) 

Ash’s Lark is listed as Endangered due her restricted range in the central coast of Somalia where the bird was recorded as common in the 1980s. Experts speculate that the bird is not farther south and that her range may extend further north along coastal plain habitats. The species’ range is estimated at 1,730 km.², The population of this species has never been quantified but is thought to be decreasing due to habitat loss since there are no coastal habitats in Somalia that are protected from coastal developments (Birds of the World).

The only 4 specimens of Ash’s Lark were collected between July 9-10, 1981 on an eastern coastal plain 13 km north of Uarshek in Somalia 80 km north of Mogadishu (Birds of the World). The specimens were sent to the British Natural History Museum. The bird was described in 1982 and named after J.S Ash who collected the specimens (Colston, 1982). Only John Miskell and a handful of other ornithologists have seen Ash’s Lark since 1981. These sightings stem from one red soil site in a coastal dune grassland in Somalia that forms of part of the Somalia-Masai district. This district spans the foothills and plains east and southeast of the Ethiopian Higland as far as the Haud Plateau from the Gulf of Aden to northeastern Kenya (Fjeldsa and Klerk, 2001). Misidentification can happen and it is difficult to distinguish if observers were seeing Ash’s Lark or the Somali Lark that inhabits red soil desert habitats near where the only known sightings of Ash’s Larks were recorded.

There are a few challenges relating to understanding and protecting Ash’s Lark. The first is that little is known about the species other than what the bird looks like and where it was found north of Uarshek. Since 1982, Ash’s Lark has been seen by only a handful of ornithologists. There have been no recent surveys to find the bird and any attempts at future expeditions are hampered by the political violence that is sweeping Somalia (Birds of the World). 

The range of Ash’s Lark overlaps with at least 5 other species of lark in Somalia alone. These species include the Red-Winged Lark, Somali Lark, Rufous-Naped lark, Sharpe’s lark (Corypha or Mirafra sharpii), and Archer’s Lark (Heteromirafra or Mirafra archeri). This overlapping can lead to misidentification in the field as the larks look very similar to each other. John Miskell (one of the only ornithologists to see Ash's Lark in the field) reported seeing grey and rufous birds in the same area where Ash’s Lark was first found. The two were hard to distinguish but he identified them as Ash’s Lark and Corypha/Mirafra somalica rochei.  

The greatest challenge is that a recent genetic study by Per Alström and a team of researchers recently dismissed Ash’s Lark as a distinct species. The purpose of their study was to reveal the full genetic diversity of the Alaudidae family. They confirmed the distinct species status of 9 other birds that were originally seen as subspecies of the Rufous-Naped Lark (Corypha or Mirafra africana). These new species include:  

1. Highland Lark (Corypha or Mirafra kurrae)  

2. Sentinel Lark (Corypha or Mirafra athi)  

3. Plains Lark (Corypha or Mirafra kabalii)  

4. Plateau Lark (Corypha or Mirafra nigrescens)  

5. Red-Winged Lark (Corypha or Mirafra hypermetra)  

6. Kidepo Lark (Corypha or Mirafra kidepoensis)  

7. Cape Clapper Lark (Corypha or Mirafra apiata)  

8. Eastern Clapper Lark (Corypha or Mirafra fasciolata)   

9. Somali Lark (Corypha or Mirafra somalica) 

While confirming the species status of several larks, they also downgraded one: Ash's Lark (Corypha or Mirafra ashi). They argue that Ash’s Lark is a southern subspecies of the Somali Lark and that Corypha/Mirafra somalica rochei is a rufous color morph of this species. 

To better represent the diversity of the Alaudidae family in their genus-level phylogeny, Alström et al., replaced the Mirafra genus and split into four new genera: Corypha, Amirafra, Plocealauda, and Calendulauda. According to this new phylogeny, Ash’s Lark, Sharpe’s Lark, the Rufous-Naped Lark, and their relatives are now members of the new genus Corypha. Not all checklists have accepted this change (Alström et al., 2023). 

The study by Alström et al., makes efforts to protect Ash’s Lark all the more difficult since the bird is no longer treated as an endangered species but as a subspecies of the Somali Lark. Since the Somali Lark is listed as Least Concern, it will be tempting by many conservationists who are strapped with limited resources to incorporate Ash’s Lark into more general conservation plans designed for the Somali Lark. It must be noted that the IUCN has already accepted the findings of Alström et al. and have stopped treating Ash’s Lark as a separate species even when they have been slow in adopting the new genus name Corypha (IUCN Red List).  

In light of this new genetic evidence, it is possible that Ash’s Lark might become lost in the shuffle, further endangering the bird’s existence.

Order: Passeriformes 

Family: Alaudidae 

Genus: Corypha/Mirafra 

Species: Corypha/Mirafra ashi or Corphya/Mirafra somalica ashi