The rufous-naped lark is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
It tolerates a range of dry or mesic habitats, typically bushy grassland or sparsely wooded savannah [REF].