| Dunn's lark | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Alaudidae |
| Genus: | Eremalauda |
| Species: | E. dunni |
| Binomial name | |
| Eremalauda dunni (Shelley, 1904) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Dunn's lark (Eremalauda dunni) is a small passerine bird of the lark family. It is a desert bird which is found across parts of the Sahara from Mauritania to central Sudan.
Dunn's lark was originally described as belonging to the genus Calendula and has also been classified by some authorities as belonging to the genus Ammomanes .
Stark's lark was formerly also classified in the genus Eremalauda; it has since been moved to Spizocorys , leaving Dunn's lark as the only species in the genus Eremalauda.
The Arabian lark (E. eremodites) of the Arabian Peninsula was formerly considered conspecific, but was classified as a distinct species by the Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive and by Birdlife International, and later by the International Ornithological Congress. [2] [3]
Dunn's lark is a stocky bird with a large head and broad wings. It is 14 to 15 cm long with a wingspan of 25 to 30 cm. [4] The upperparts are pale sandy-brown with darker streaks. The underparts are whitish with some dark streaks on the breast. There is a pale stripe over the eye and a pale ring around it. Birds have dark moustachial and malar stripes and a dark mark under the eye. The short, broad tail is black below while the upperside is black with rusty-brown central feathers and pale outer feathers. The bill is large, heavy and pale pinkish or yellowish in colour. After moulting, the birds become gradually duller and the dark markings fainter as the plumage becomes more worn. [5]
The song is a scratchy warbling with short whistling phrases. Males sing either from the ground or in flight, hovering 30 metres or more above the ground. [4]
In Africa, the species has a scattered range from Mauritania through Mali, Niger and Chad to Sudan. [6]
Dunn's larks are found in flat, arid areas with light vegetation such as grass and scattered bushes. [5]
The nest is a scrape on the ground which is lined with vegetation. Two or three eggs are laid and are incubated for 13 to 16 days. They are white with blackish and lavender spots. [4]
The diet mainly includes seeds and insects. Birds feed on the ground and sometimes dig for food with their bills. They typically feed in flocks outside the breeding season, moving nomadically in response to rainfall. [4]
The Egyptian nightjar is a medium-small nightjar which occurs in south west Asia and north Africa and winters in tropical Africa. This is a fairly common species with a wide distribution which faces no obvious threats apart from habitat destruction, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The rufous-tailed scrub robin is a medium-sized member of the family Muscicapidae. Other common names include the rufous scrub robin, rufous bush chat, rufous bush robin and the rufous warbler. It breeds around the Mediterranean and east to Pakistan. It also breeds south of the Sahara from the Sahel region east to Somalia; these African birds are sometimes considered to be a separate species, the African scrub robin. It is partially migratory, wintering in Africa and India. This is a very rare visitor to northern Europe.
The chestnut-backed sparrow-lark is a passerine bird which is a resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara Desert.
Temminck's lark or Temminck's horned lark, is a bird species of the family Alaudidae. It breeds across much of north Africa, through northern Saudi Arabia to western Iraq. It is mainly resident, but some populations of this passerine bird are partially migratory, moving further south in winter. This bird's common name commemorates the Dutch naturalist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The population is declining in Israel and may also be declining elsewhere, probably as a result of habitat loss. Nevertheless, this is a common bird in many parts of its wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The greater hoopoe-lark is a passerine bird which is a breeding resident of arid, desert and semi-desert regions from the Cape Verde Islands across much of northern Africa, through the Arabian peninsula, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It was formerly known as the bifasciated lark and sometimes as the large desert lark.
The desert lark breeds in deserts and semi-deserts from Morocco to western India. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, and surveys have shown that it is slowly increasing in numbers as it expands its range. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The singing bush lark or Horsfield's bush lark is a species of lark which inhabits grassland throughout most of Australia and much of Southeast Asia. It was described by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield.
Eremalauda is a genus of larks in the family Alaudidae.
Menetries's warbler or Ménétries's warbler is a small passerine bird of Southwest Asia belonging to the genus Curruca. The name of the species commemorates Édouard Ménétries, the French zoologist who described the species in 1832. It is closely related to the Sardinian warbler of the Mediterranean basin and is similar to it in appearance.
The African pipit is a fairly small passerine bird belonging to the pipit genus Anthus in the family Motacillidae. It is also known as the grassveld pipit or grassland pipit. It was formerly lumped together with the Richard's, Australian, mountain and paddyfield pipits in a single species, Richard's pipit, but is now often treated as a species in its own right.
The bar-tailed lark or bar-tailed desert lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. Two other species, the rufous-tailed lark and the Cape clapper lark are both also sometimes referred to using the name bar-tailed lark. It is found from Morocco to Pakistan. Its natural habitat is hot deserts. This is in many places a common species, but elsewhere rather less common. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, but surveys have shown that it is slowly decreasing in numbers. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Ammomanes is a genus of lark in the family Alaudidae.
The black-crowned sparrow-lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found across northern Africa from Mauritania through the Middle East to north-western India. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.
The crowned sandgrouse is a species of bird in the sandgrouse family, the Pteroclidae from North Africa and the Middle East.
The spotted sandgrouse is a species of ground dwelling bird in the family Pteroclidae. It is found in arid regions of northern and eastern Africa and across the Middle East and parts of Asia as far east as northwest India. It is a gregarious, diurnal bird and small flocks forage for seed and other vegetable matter on the ground, flying once a day to a waterhole for water. In the breeding season pairs nest apart from one another, the eggs being laid in a depression on the stony ground. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and eat dry seed, the water they need being provided by the male which saturates its belly feathers with water at the waterhole. The spotted sandgrouse is listed as being of "least concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in its Red List of Threatened Species.
The quail-plover, lark buttonquail or lark-plover is a small ground-living bird in the buttonquail family Turnicidae that is found in the Sahel region of Africa and in a disjunct region of East Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Ortyxelos.
The cricket warbler, also known as cricket longtail, scaly longtail or cricket prinia, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It belongs to the genus Spiloptila; it is often the only species included in the genus but sometimes the red-fronted prinia is placed there as well.
Blanford's lark or Blanford's short-toed lark is a small passerine bird of the lark family, Alaudidae, which is native to north-eastern Africa. Its common name commemorates the English zoologist William Thomas Blanford.
Heuglin's wheatear is a small passerine bird in the wheatear genus Oenanthe.
The Arabian lark is a small passerine bird of the lark family. It is a desert bird which is found from Syria to Jordan and through Saudi Arabia to Oman.
