Short-toed lark
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Short-toed Lark ( Calandrella brachydactyla ) |
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| ( Leisler , 1814) |
The Short-toed Lark ( Calandrella brachydactyla ) is a species of the family of larks (Alaudidae). This small species of lark inhabits large parts of the southern Palearctic from northwest Africa and Spain to China . In Western and Central Europe, the northernmost breeding occurrences are in Central France and Hungary. The short-toed lark inhabits dry, treeless and bushless open landscapes such as dry grassland and semi-deserts, as well as fallow land and wastelands in the cultural landscape. Depending on the area of distribution, the species is predominantly medium to long-distance migrant and winters mainly on the southern edge of the Sahara in the transition area between the Sahel zone and the desert as well as in southern Asia. In northern Central Europe, the short-toed lark is a very rare but regular migrant, especially in April and May as well as in October and November.
The European population of the species has been declining since 1970, but worldwide the species is considered by the IUCN as 
(= least concern - not endangered) due to its large distribution area and the very high total population .
features
Short-toed larks are small, light gray-brown and whitish colored larks with a short, conical beak. The shield springs are very long so that the tips of the hand swing arms protrude only a little.
With a body length of 14 to 16 cm, the species is only slightly larger than a woodlark . The basic color of the top is sand-colored, light yellowish or gray-brown. The top of the head can also be red-brown. For this reason, the top of the head and the upper back are striped lengthways, the rump is a single color, sand-colored. The wings and the umbrella feathers are dark gray-brown with pale brown edges. The large and middle arm covers have broad yellowish to whitish tips that form two clearly visible wing bands when in flight. The tail is also gray-brown, the outermost (sixth) control spring has a yellowish-white wedge on the outside.
The species shows a strong, dirty white stripe above the eyes, which ends at the rear edge of the ear covers and is bordered at the bottom by a fine, dark eye stripe. The cheeks and ear coverts are almost unbroken, monochrome gray-brown and broadly white at the back and below. The cheek and chin stripes are narrow and dark black-gray, the beard stripes are white. Most individuals have a narrow, dark patch on the side of the chest, the sides of the chest underneath and the upper flanks are darkly dashed on a yellowish background. The rest of the breast and throat, like the rest of the rest of the underside of the torso, are solid white. The iris is dark brown, the legs are flesh-like, the slender bill is horn-colored.
Vocalizations
The singing is performed by the males mainly in singing flight, rarely sitting on the ground or on stones. The singing often starts when taking off from the ground. The stanzas are usually introduced by short, halting sounds such as “pütt-trüll-üll-üll” , the further chant during the ascent at a height of 20 to 50 m can also consist predominantly or entirely of good imitations of other bird calls and chants, for example imitations of the calls of the kestrel or the crested lark . The actual singing flight is an irregular wave flight, the uttered, rather monotonous song consists of short, repeatedly repeated stanzas such as “tipzetízerlilü” , “tip te tízirtuíze” or “tschöp-zöp-zirile-ürilezizüé” , not unlike the singing of whinchat , Blackcatcher or gray bunting . The singing flights usually last 3 to 8, occasionally up to 26 minutes.
distribution and habitat
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The short-toed lark inhabits large parts of the southern Palearctic . In an east-west direction, the distribution extends from northwest Africa and Spain to China . In a north-south direction, the more or less closed area in the west extends from northern Spain, southern France and northern Italy to North Africa to the northern edge of the Sahara; further east approximately along the northern steppe border on the Volga in Russia at 52 ° N and in Kazakhstan at 54 ° N to the south to Syria , Iran and Iraq and to the southwest of Afghanistan . In the Central Asian highlands, the distribution extends from the Chinese Xinjiang and the highlands of Tibet to the Himalayas on the northern edge of India . In western Europe, the isolated and geographically isolated northernmost breeding populations are in central France and Hungary.
The species inhabits dry, treeless and bushless open landscapes such as dry grassland and semi-deserts as well as wasteland and wastelands in the cultural landscape. The northernmost occurrences in Western and Central Europe are in structurally comparable special locations, in France on the coasts in dunes and on flat rock islands; in the inland areas there on small airfields, leveled building land and large storage areas for sugar beet , mostly with concrete slabs or gravel as a substrate . In Hungary the species occurs only in the salt steppes in the east of the Great Hungarian Plain .
Systematics
The number of subspecies of the short-toed lark is controversial. J. Haffer recognizes 7 poorly differentiated subspecies and points out that the delimitation of these subspecies is "quite artificial" and that further research is needed on this:
- Calandrella brachydactyla brachydactyla ( Leisler , 1814) ; from Spain to the east to southern Russia.
- Calandrella b. rubiginosa Fromholz , 1913 ; North Africa; Color more intense than in the nominate form , skull always reddish brown.
- Calandrella b. hermonensis Tristram , 1865 ; Syria and Palestine ; overall grayer than the nominate form , the upper part of the head is red-brown in about 20% of the individuals.
- Calandrella b. artemisiana Banjkowski , 1913 ; Turkey, Transcaucasia , Central Asian steppes and Iran; Colors even paler than in the previous subspecies, upper side hardly dashed and underside almost completely white.
- Calandrella b. longipennis ( Eversmann , 1848) ; Kazakhstan and Northern Inner Asia; Colors again similar to the nominate form , darker and browner than the previous subspecies with clear dashed lines.
- Calandrella b. hungarica Horváth , 1956 ; Hungary; Smaller than the nominate shape, upper side without red-brown and more brown-gray with strong dotted lines, lower side gray and darker than in all other subspecies.
The Calandrella dukhunensis ( Sykes , 1832) , which occurs in the highlands of Tibet and western China , was long considered a subspecies of the short- toed lark. Today it is classified as a separate species.
nutrition
The diet consists of both animal and vegetable components. In summer and winter quarters, it is mainly small insects, primarily small beetles and ants, that are eaten, but also other invertebrates such as spiders and small snails. In the vegetable diet, seeds of sweet grasses and knotweed are dominant .
Reproduction and Age
Short-toed larks lead a monogamous seasonal marriage. The nest is laid on the ground, preferably leaning against a single larger plant, a larger stone or an elevation. It is often built with an incline of around 30 ° and is mostly oriented to the north, especially in the late breeding season, so that it is shaded by the supporting structure and the raised edge of the nest. The nest consists of a very deep hollow, which is made of coarser plant material on the outside and fine plant material on the inside. The actual nest hollow is often lined with animal hair, feathers or, if they are missing, with very fine plant material. If the nest trough cannot be deepened sufficiently because of a hard surface, the nest area in this area is filled up to the upper edge of the nest with small clods of earth, stones, parts of plants or pieces of pet droppings, so that depending on the nest structure, a ramp, a raised half-ring or free-standing ones Nesting creates a flat truncated cone. The nest is built exclusively by the female.
Egg-laying takes place depending on the geographical location, in North Africa sometimes as early as early March, but mostly in early April, in south-western Europe mainly from mid-April, in south-eastern Europe from late April and in Hungary at the earliest at the beginning of May, mainly in the second half of May. As a rule, two broods are carried out each season. The clutch consists of 3 to 4, rarely 5 eggs, which are mottled on a yellowish white or greenish white background in very different intensities from light brown to olive brown. The breeding season lasts 13 days. The incubation of the eggs as well as the huddling of the nestlings is done exclusively by the female. Both parents feed, but the proportion of the male is lower. The young birds leave the nest at 8 to 10 days and can fly low after 11 to 12 days. Sexual maturity is reached in the first year of life.
Information on the average age is not available; the maximum age proven by ringing is 8 years.
hikes
Depending on the distribution area, the species is mainly medium to long-distance migrant . The migration of southwest European birds takes place in mid-August to the end of September with individual stragglers by the beginning of October. In Ukraine , the last migrants are observed in late October or early November. European short-toed larks overwinter mainly on the southern edge of the Sahara in the transition area between the Sahel zone and the desert, and also in favorable places within the Sahara. The species also winters in small numbers further north in North Africa, winter records in southern Europe are exceptions. Asian birds overwinter mainly in north-west India, less frequently in Pakistan and the Middle East and in north-east Africa. The species is sociable outside of the breeding season and forms loose swarms with 100 to over 1000 individuals, especially in its winter quarters. The first homecomers in south-western Europe are found around March 7th at the earliest, usually around March 15th, and the homecoming lasts until mid-April. The breeding grounds are occupied in Dalmatia from the end of March to mid-April, in Hungary quite uniformly around April 7th. Asiatic birds leave the breeding area in September with the last migrants by the end of October; they return home from mid-March to mid-April. In northern Central Europe, the short-toed lark is a very rare but regular migrant and guest, especially in April and May as well as in October and November. The majority of the birds detected in Western and Northern Europe in spring apparently belong to southern European populations whose migration route leads too far (migration prolongation), while in autumn mainly Asian short-toed larks reach Europe.
Existence and endangerment
The world population of the species is very large. There is no reliable information on the world population , the IUCN gives 91 to 840 million individuals as a very rough estimate. In the winter quarters on the southern edge of the Sahara, the short-toed lark was the most common lark in some areas in the 1950s, and in India the large swarms of winter are considered a threat to air traffic.
In 2004, Birdlife International estimated the European population, including Turkey, at 7.3 to 14 million breeding pairs. Turkey has the largest stocks with 3 to 6 million, European Russia with 2 to 5 million and Spain with 2.2 to 2.6 million pairs. In Spain and Russia the population decreased sharply between 1970 and 2000, but remained stable in Turkey. Overall, BirdLife International therefore classifies the European population as “declining”. Worldwide, the species is considered by the IUCN as safe ("least concern") due to the large distribution area and the very high total population.
supporting documents
literature
- Einhard Bezzel: Compendium of the birds of Central Europe. Passeres - songbirds . Aula, Wiesbaden 1993, ISBN 3-89104-530-1 , pp. 23-26.
- Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim , Kurt M. Bauer: Handbook of the birds of Central Europe. Volume 10 / I: Passeriformes. 1st part: Alaudidae - Hirundinidae. Aula, Wiesbaden 1985, ISBN 3-923527-00-4 , pp. 112-133.
- Lars Svensson , Peter J. Grant, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterström: The new cosmos bird guide. Kosmos, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07720-9 , p. 232 f.
- Lajos Horváth: A new race of Short-toed Lark from Hungary . In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . tape 76 , 1956, pp. 132-133 ( online [accessed August 15, 2013]).
Web links
- Calandrella brachydactyla in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 30 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Calandrella brachydactyla in the Internet Bird Collection
- Age and gender characteristics (PDF; 2.3 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta and Gerd-Michael Heinze (English)
- Short-toed lark feathers
Individual evidence
- ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Volume 10 / I, Passeriformes (1st part) Alaudidae - Hirundinidae. Aula, Wiesbaden, 1985: p. 117. ISBN 3-923527-00-4
- ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Volume 10 / I, Passeriformes (1st part) Alaudidae - Hirundinidae. Aula, Wiesbaden, 1985: p. 112. ISBN 3-923527-00-4
- ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Volume 10 / I, Passeriformes (1st part) Alaudidae - Hirundinidae. Aula, Wiesbaden, 1985: pp. 123-124 and 129-131. ISBN 3-923527-00-4
- ^ J. Haffer in Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Volume 10 / I, Passeriformes (1st part) Alaudidae - Hirundinidae. Aula, Wiesbaden, 1985: pp. 112-113. ISBN 3-923527-00-4
- ↑ Lajos Horváth, p. 132
- ↑ Avibase on Calandrella dukhunsis
- ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Volume 10 / I, Passeriformes (1st part) Alaudidae - Hirundinidae. Aula, Wiesbaden, 1985: p. 126. ISBN 3-923527-00-4
- ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Volume 10 / I, Passeriformes (1st part) Alaudidae - Hirundinidae. Aula, Wiesbaden, 1985: pp. 119 and 132. ISBN 3-923527-00-4
- ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Volume 10 / I, Passeriformes (1st part) Alaudidae - Hirundinidae. Aula, Wiesbaden, 1985: p. 119. ISBN 3-923527-00-4
- ↑ Mahesh, SS: Management of Greater Short-toed Larks Calandrella brachydactyla in Indian aerodromes. Indian Birds 5 (1), 2009: pp. 2-6
- ↑ Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status (BirdLife International 2004) (English)