Rufous-naped Lark

[Bill Dix]

This was one of the first birds we saw when we arrived in Botswana, perched next to the small airstrip on our way to Kwetsani Camp. Late afternoon on an overcast day. This one, I believe, is a juvenile, lacking some of the field marks of the adult. The adult male was not far away (but too far for a decent image) singing his distinctive, clear song.

D500, Sigma 150-600 VR @ 600mm; ISO 3200, 1/400s @ f/6.3 manual.

[John Mack]

High key treatment works very well here. Like the diagonal perch and the look back pose on the bird.

[Isaac Grant]

Nice pose on the bird and good head angle despite that it looks to be above eye level. Image quality is not up to your usual standards as the bird is lacking in fine feather details and the belly is quite noisy. Also it has been a long time since I wa sin Africa so maybe Stu can chime in but I do not think this is a lark at all. Maybe it is a Piping Cisticola? I would have to really go back and check references to be sure.

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Bill,
Looks very similar to the Golden headed Cisticola here in Brisbane. Very nice image.

[Bill Dix]

Isaac, I agree the high ISO and relatively low SS didn't help the IQ. I would love some confirmation/correction of the species. The more distant adult bird was unmistakably the Rufous-naped Lark, in both field marks and song. This one seemed to be communicating with the distant one; chirping as if begging for food, which led to my ID. But I agree it lacks the field marks of the adult. (While colors are muted here, it does show a hint of a rufous crest and rufous wing panels, consistent with my ID.) But I'm not 100% convinced, and haven't been able to find good images of the juvenile lark for comparison. This one also lacks any field marks of any of the Cisticolas - no pronounced streaking on the back, and the eye is different.

[Isaac Grant]

Quick google search for Piping Cisticola (Neddicky) and found this pic. Looks pretty similar but I am far from confident on Africa bird ID's. Have not been there since the late 90's

[Bill Dix]

Yes it does. (And also thanks to Paul.) This image is very different from the Piping Cisticola in my book (which doesn't have the Golden-headed Cisticola), but quite similar to my image. I think I'll have to change my ID. Thanks for checking on it.

[Isaac Grant]

Lets see if Stu chimes in or maybe send him a PM. Like I said, I think I am right or at least close but that is bringing back memories from 20 years ago...

[Arthur Morris]

I like the image and the great head angle, perfect for the pose. Wishing only that the bird was not angled away from the back of the camera. No clue on the iD :)

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