Territory establishment and the mating system of the nomadic Monotonous Lark <i>Mirafra passerina</i>

Abstract

The Monotonous Lark Mirafra passerina is one of the least known members of the genus. This may be ascribed to its nomadic habits which makes it difficult to know when or where breeding will occur and the fact that outside the breeding season they are silent and very inconspicuous. This has led some authors to suggest that it is an intra-African migrant, yet it has never been recorded outside of its known range in southern Africa. Its movements are linked to rainfall and breeding usually occurs where substantial rain has fallen in the recent past