Calandrella somalica
Silhouette: Gossipguy and T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The Somali short-toed lark (Alaudala somalica) is a small passerine bird of the lark family found in eastern and north-eastern Africa. The habitat of the Somali short-toed lark is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.
The Somali short-toed lark was formally described in 1895 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe based on a specimen collected on the Haud plateau of Somalia by the American explorer Arthur Donaldson Smith. Sharpe coined the binomial name Alaudala somalica. The Somali short-toed lark was formerly sometimes treated as a subspecies of the Mediterranean short-toed lark (Alaudala rufescens). The Athi short-toed lark was formerly treated as a subspecies.
Four subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Somali Short-toed Lark sighting in Serengeti National Park on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 316th most-seen of the 469 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Somali Short-toed Lark in Serengeti National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to March, the lowest months. That is one of Serengeti National Park's wettest months, with about 140 mm of rain against 5 mm in July.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Somali Short-toed Lark sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Somali Short-toed Lark sightings, Serengeti National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Amboseli National Park (Kenya, under 5%) and Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Somali Short-toed Lark is recorded against all the birds logged in Serengeti National Park (41 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
