Karoo lark Karoo lark "The Karoo lark should not be confused with the similarly named Karoo long-billed lark." The Karoo lark ("Calendulauda albescens") or red-backed lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is endemic to South Africa where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. The Karoo lark was originally classified in the genus "Alauda" and subsequently "Mirafra" and "Certhilauda", until moved to "Calendulauda" by the IOC in 2009. Not all authorities have followed this taxonomy change. Four subspecies are recognized: Formerly, some authorities considered both the dune lark (as "Certhilauda albescens erythrochlamys") and Barlow's lark
Karoo into the increasingly arid Bushmanland towards the north-west. To the north and north-east, it fades into the savannah and grasslands of Griqualand West and the Highveld. The boundary to the east grades into the grasslands of the Eastern Midlands. The Great Karoo is itself divided by the Great Escarpment into the Upper Karoo (generally above 1200–1500 m) and the Lower Karoo on the plains below at 700–800 m. A great many local names, each denoting different subregions of the Great Karoo, exist, some more widely, or more generally, known than others. In the Lower Karoo, going from west to east,