Melanocorypha
| Melanocorypha | ||||||||||||
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Calender Lark ( Melanocorypha calandra ) - front |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Melanocorypha | ||||||||||||
| F. Boie , 1828 |
Melanocorypha is a genus of the larks (Alaudidae) in the order of the passerine birds (Passeriformes). It comprises six species that are common in the arid regions of the southern Palearctic .
features
The species of the genus Melanocorypha are medium-sized to large larks with wing lengths that, depending on the species, range between 100 millimeters for the white-winged lark ( M. leucoptera ) and 160 millimeters for the giant marsh lark ( M. maxima ). The wings are long and pointed, the inner arm wings are slightly elongated. The hand wings are in most species between 5 and 7 and only in the giant marsh lark and the calender lark ( M. calandra ) up to 10 millimeters long. Only in the latter species are they visible on the underside of the wing, in the other species they are hidden under cover feathers .
The species are typically brown in color with a dashed back and a whitish belly and usually have two dark spots on the side of the goiter . The males of the black lark ( M. yeltoniensis ) with a uniformly black plumage are an exception . Another typical feature of all species is a high, laterally compressed bill and nostrils covered by stiff feathers.
Systematics
The six species of the genus can be divided into three species groups. The mountain calender lark and the calender lark together with the giant marsh lark form the M. calandra group, which is characterized by white tips of the arm wings and white outer tail feathers. The Mongolian lark and the white winged lark form the M. mongolica group with large white wings and cinnamon to reddish-brown colors on the back. The black lark with a conspicuous sexual dimorphism and completely black males is taxonomically isolated .
- species
- Mountain calender lark ( Melanocorypha bimaculata )
- Calender Lark ( Melanocorypha calandra )
- White winged lark ( Melanocorypha leucoptera )
- Marsh lark ( Melanocorypha maxima )
- Mongolian Lark ( Melanocorypha mongolica )
- Black Lark ( Melanocorypha yeltoniensis )
Trivia
Larks are rarely kept as caged birds. An exception is the Mongolian Lark, which interweaves the calls of numerous other bird species in its song. Even in the 1920s it was traded in large numbers at bird markets in Beijing and was known as the "Hundred Melodies" because of its varied singing.
literature
- Glutz v. Blotzheim, UN & Bauer, KM: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Vol. 10/1, AULA-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1985; Pages 84 f. ISBN 3-923527-00-4 .
- Rudolf Pätzold : Compendium of Larks. All the larks on earth. Jan-Schimkat-Medienpublikation, Dresden 2003, ISBN 3-00-011219-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 231.