A lark of dry, open landscapes in western southern Africa. In its core range it is mostly sedentary or moves only locally.
It is a small, stocky lark with a heavy bill and dark streaks on its brown crown and mantle. A pale eyebrow contrasts with a dark eye stripe, and the outer tail feathers have white panels.
Birds in the core range are sedentary or move locally, while those at the range edges may move in response to local rainfall. Their movements are not fully understood.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.