• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2017	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2012	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2008	Near Threatened	A2c; A3c; A4c
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	581,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.8 years	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: This is a poorly known species and no population estimates are available.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be in decline following a recent range contraction and threats from the expansion of cultivation, urban development and overgrazing (del Hoyo et al. 2004, Taylor et al. 2015). Some analyses of Southern African Bird Atlas Project data suggest that there has been a range decline for this species between Southern African Bird Atlas Projects (SABAP) (Taylor et al. 2015), but other analyses of this data suggest this species may even have increased its range (Lee et al. 2017). The analysis presented in Taylor et al. (2015) suggests a >30% decline in range between SABAPs, however, the length of time between projects (SABAP1 1987-1992; SABAP2 2007-2014. Note SABAP2 is ongoing but data taken from 2014) is greater than 3 generations (11 years) and the reduction in its Area of Occupancy is below the threshold for concern (Taylor et al. 2015).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Botswana	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
South Africa	Botsalano Nature Reserve
South Africa	Upper Orange River

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Commercial & industrial areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Melodious Lark Mirafra cheniana. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/melodious-lark-mirafra-cheniana on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.