ID needed for Lark ? at Okavango Delta, Botswana (1 Viewer)

Attached find three photos of what I tentatively identify at a Fawn-coloured Lark. I'd appreciate receiving your ID of this bird. The photo was taken on 27 November 2011 near Xigera Camp at a mostly open area (graminoids and forbs) with nearby patches of scrub and woodland.

Hello,

Juvenile Larks can be very difficult to identify sometimes. In this case I am not sure of the species... have you considered Flappet lark? I feel the bill tip isn't pointed enough for Fawn-coloured lark.

Tricky! It's not bad for Fawn-coloured (See one of mine here: http://www.tanzaniabirds.net/African_birds/Lark_foxy/fcl.htm) , but I agree with Tib that the bill is rather blunt. It also looks quite nice and cute from thr front, which is more of a Flappet thing. But I've never seen a juv flappet with such a strong super. Very tricky! Other larks are also available!

Could it be a Sabota Lark?

Starting with what we can see. We have a juv lark with rufous in the wings and pale buff outer edge to the outer tail feathers and fairly obvious pale supercilium above the eye. I would also suggest that the bill is not fully grown yet.

Sabota has white outer tail and lacks rufous in the wings and so can be eliminated. Fawn-coloured also has white outer tail and so can be eliminated. Flappet has darker outer tail feathers than this bird and also darker underparts and the supercilium does seem too obvious. Likewise for Eastern Clapper.

Why isn't it a Rufous-naped Lark? The bill certainly seems to be going that way and the plumage doesn't seem to present any problems. I haven't seen one in a while, but seems okay to me for that.

Thanks to all of you for trying to be helpful. I'm now calling it a Melodious Lark. Can you think of reason(s) why that is an incorrect ID? My second choice at this point would be immature Rufous-naped Lark. Ron Davis