Jerdon Lark
| Jerdon Lark | ||||||||||||
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Young bird of the Jerdon Lark, India |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Mirafra affinis | ||||||||||||
| Blyth , 1845 |
Dark green: Distribution area of the closely related Bengal Lark
The Jerdon lark ( Mirafra affinis ) is a species from the lark family. Their distribution area is in South Asia. It was originally classified as a subspecies of the Bengal Lark. Due to differences in singing, it is now classified as an independent species.
The Jerdon Lark bears its German name in honor of Thomas Caverhill Jerdon (1811–1872), a British physician, botanist and zoologist who initially worked as a doctor in the British East India Company and was later promoted to medical officer of the British Madras Regiment.
features
The Jerdon Lark reaches a body length of about 15 centimeters, of which 3.9 to 4.7 centimeters are on the tail. The beak length is 1.3 to 1.8 centimeters. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism , but the males are slightly larger than the females.
The Jerdon Lark is lighter and slightly redder than the closely related Bengal Lark. The vertex and the neck are brownish yellow-brown to reddish gray-brown and noticeably blackish-brown dashed. The yellow-brownish stripe over the eyes is narrow.
The chin and throat are whitish, the chest is yellow-brown, but the belly is clearly lighter. The chest has round to triangular blackish-brown spots. The arm and hand wings have reddish hems. The tail feathers are dark yellow-brown, the rear claw is longer than the rear toe in most individuals. The upper bill is dark brown, the lower bill yellowish horn-colored. The feet are reddish to yellowish brown. The iris is brown.
Distribution area and habitat
The Jerdon Lark occurs in India and Sri Lanka. Their habitat is open stony grassland covered with bushes, but also agricultural land. She is a resident.
Way of life
The Jerdonlark eats seeds and arthropods . It breeds in southern India from December to May. In Sri Lanka, on the other hand, the breeding season falls from March to August with a peak in May.
The Jerdon Lark sings mainly from waiting for a hide on a hill, a bush, a fence or a telephone wire and sits a few meters above the ground. When the singing is over, she drops to the ground with her wings spread and legs hanging down. It shows the singing flight comparatively rarely.
Like all larks, the Jerdon lark is a ground breeder that builds a bowl-shaped nest in a hollow. The nest is only occasionally arched. The clutch usually consists of three to four eggs. The eggs are yellowish to light grayish and have brownish and grayish spots.
literature
- Rudolf Pätzold: The larks of the world . Westarp Sciences, Magdeburg 1994, ISBN 3-89432-422-8 .
- Rudolf Pätzold: Compendium of Larks. All the larks on earth. Jan-Schimkat-Medienpublikation, Dresden 2003, ISBN 3-00-011219-7 .
Web links
Single receipts
- ^ Per Alström: Taxonomy of the Mirafra assamica complex . In: Forktail . 13, 1998, pp. 97-107. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
- ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins: Whose Bird ?: Common Bird Names and the People They Commemorate . Yale University Press, London 2004, ISBN 978-0300-10359-5 .
- ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 103.
- ↑ a b Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 104.
- ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 101.