A lark with a fragmented range across higher ground from West Africa to Sudan. The appearance and behavior described here are limited to the bamendae subspecies documented in the paper.
In the paper's photograph of subspecies bamendae, the head and back appear brown with dark streaks, while the underside is pale.
The paper reports that subspecies bamendae in Cameroon frequently raises its crown feathers while singing, showing the rufous bases of the rear crown feathers.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.