Dupont's lark | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Alaudidae |
Genus: | Chersophilus Sharpe, 1890 |
Species: | C. duponti |
Binomial name | |
Chersophilus duponti (Vieillot, 1824) | |
Synonyms | |
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Dupont's lark (Chersophilus duponti) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae of the monotypic genus Chersophilus. It is found in northern Africa and Spain.
Dupont's lark was originally described by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1820 and placed in the genus Alauda . [2] [3] It was named for the French naturalist Léonard Puech Dupont, who had collected the species and showed it to Vieillot. [4]
Two subspecies are recognized: [5]
Like most other larks, Dupont's lark is an undistinguished looking species on the ground. It is 17–18 cm long, slim, with a long neck, long legs and a fine slightly curved bill. It has a thin pale crown stripe and a dark-streaked breast. The north-western Dupont's lark of Europe and north-west Africa is mainly brown-grey above and pale below. The south-eastern Dupont's lark, which occupies most of the rest of the African range, has rufous upperparts.
Its song is a repeated thin, melancholic whistling phrase, very ventriloquial (difficult to locate) and a nasal whistle given mainly at dawn and dusk or at night.
It breeds across much of northern Africa, from Algeria to Egypt, and in Spain. [1] It is a non-migratory resident. It is a species that commonly inhabits chaparral areas. [6] However, it experiences a 3.9% annual population decrease in Spain with a 32.8% decrease from 2008 to 2018, shifting its conservation status to vulnerable on the national level and endangered in the regions of Andalusia and Castile-León. [7]
This is a very shy species, which runs for cover when disturbed. It is difficult to see while running among vegetation but it sometimes sings, standing upright on the edge of a low bush.
This is a bird of open sandy semi-desert or steppe with some grass. Its nest is on the ground, with three or four eggs being laid. Its food is seeds and insects.
The isabelline wheatear is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher in the family Muscicapidae. It is a migratory insectivorous bird. Its habitat is steppe and open countryside and it breeds in southern Russia and Central Asia to northern Pakistan, wintering in Africa and northwestern India. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The calandra lark or European calandra-lark breeds in warm temperate countries around the Mediterranean and eastwards through Turkey into northern Iran and southern Russia. It is replaced further east by its relative, the bimaculated lark.
Thekla's lark, also known as the Thekla lark, is a species of lark that breeds on the Iberian Peninsula, in northern Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Somalia. It is a sedentary (non-migratory) species. This is a common bird of dry open country, often at some altitude. Thekla's lark was named by Alfred Edmund Brehm in 1857 for his recently deceased sister Thekla Brehm (1833–1857). The name is a modern Greek one, Θέκλα, which comes from ancient Greek Θεόκλεια (Theokleia) derived from θεός and κλέος. The population is declining in Spain, but this is a common bird with a very wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The greater short-toed lark is a small passerine bird. The current scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, Calandrella, is a diminutive of kalandros, the calandra lark, and brachydactila is from brakhus, "short", and daktulos, "toe".
The Mediterraneanshort-toed lark is a small passerine bird found in and around the Mediterranean Basin. It is a common bird with a very wide range from Canary Islands north to the Iberian Peninsula and east throughout North Africa to parts of the Middle East. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The chestnut-backed sparrow-lark is a passerine bird which is a resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara Desert.
Alaemon is a genus of birds in the family Alaudidae, commonly called hoopoe larks.
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".
Alauda is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are known from the fossil record. The current genus name is from Latin alauda, "lark". Pliny the Elder thought the word was originally of Celtic origin.
The Cape clapper lark is a small passerine bird which breeds in southern Africa. It derives its name from the wing clapping which forms part of the display flight. The Cape clapper lark is a species of open grassland and savannah, also inhabiting karoo, fynbos and fallow agricultural land.
The sombre greenbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in coastal bush, evergreen forest and dry shrub land in eastern and southern Africa. It is the only member of the genus Andropadus.
The large-billed lark or southern thick-billed lark is a small passerine bird found in southern Africa. The name "large-billed lark" may also refer to Bradfield's lark. The name "thick-billed lark" more commonly refers to the species of the same name.
The thick-billed lark or Clotbey lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae.
Gray's lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in south-western Africa in its natural habitat of hot deserts.
The Cape long-billed lark, also known as the Cape lark, Cape longbill or long-billed lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in south-western Africa. Its natural habitats are semi-arid Karoo shrub and subtropical dry shrubland and subtropical or dry lowland and highveld grassland. This lark is also found in croplands, farmlands and coastal fynbos.
The Karoo long-billed lark or Karoo longbill is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in southern Africa in its natural habitat of subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
The spike-heeled lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in southern Africa.
The Mongolian lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found from southern Russia and Mongolia to central China.
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.
Léonard Puech Dupont was a French naturalist, explorer, collector and trader of natural history specimens.