Raso Lark - Geographic Range

Geographic Range

The Raso Lark, geographically, is located on a small island off of the western tip of Africa, named the island of Raso; about the same latitude as Senegal. This island is part of the Cape Verde archipelago which consists of 9 inhabited islands and 5 uninhabited islands. Currently the Raso Lark inhabits only the island of Raso but evidence from sub fossil bone deposits reveal that the Raso Lark once existed on the islands of Santa Luzia, São Vicente, Santo Antão, and possibly Branco during the glacial times, also part of the Cape Verde archipelago, before human colonization in the 15th century. (IUCN 2012) Unfortunately the colonization was followed by a rapid extinction. The island of Raso has remained uninhabited favoring preservation of the bird but suitable breeding grounds cover less than half of the island. (IUCN. 2012) The island mostly consists of rocky desert with sandy parts in the west.(Ratcliffe et al. 1999) The barren island suffers from drought often which create dry plains forcing the Raso Larks to move amongst the island in search for food. There most common areas of residence would be around dry river beds. But due to the vast scarcity, only patches of vegetation remain for Raso Larks to reside in. Their nesting and feeding grounds consist of those same areas where vegetation is available. The Raso Larks sensitivity to drought has kept it endangered for quite some time due to the dry lands of the Cape Verde islands.