Barnacle Lark
| Barnacle Lark | ||||||||||||
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Barnacle Lark, male |
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| Eremopterix leucotis | ||||||||||||
| ( Stanley , 1814) |
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The Barnacle lark ( Eremopterix leucotis ) is a kind from the family of larks. It is a small, finch-like lark that has a thick, short beak and is predominantly auburn on the top of its body. Compared to the skylark , it is around 25 to 30 centimeters smaller. Their distribution area is in Africa. There are five subspecies.
The IUCN classifies the white-cheeked lark as harmless ( least concern ).
Position in the genus Eremopterix
The position of the brown saddle plate within the genus Eremopterix has not yet been clarified. Some authors think it is conceivable that the white-cheeked lark forms a super -species with the white-fronted lark .
features
The white-cheeked lark reaches a body length of about 12 to 13 centimeters, of which 4.8 to 5.5 centimeters are on the tail. The beak measures 1.0 to 1.15 centimeters from the skull. They weigh between 12.3 and 13.8 grams. There is a pronounced gender dimorphism .
In the male, the head, including the chin and throat, as well as the chest and upper abdomen are blackish chocolate brown. Only the cheeks and the ear covers and a narrow band in the neck are white.
The coat, shoulders and back are maroon, with an individually variable number of feathers lined with white or gray or with white or gray tips. The upper tail-coverts are light yellow-brown and stand out from the darker back. The hand and arm wings are brown, the individual feathers are partly broadly lined with reddish and have lighter tips. The brown wing covers are lined with white. The tail is brown, the middle pair of control feathers has reddish borders. The sixth (outermost) control spring has a whitish outer flag. The beak is very bright horn-colored. The legs and toes are horn-colored, the iris is brown.
The female has a brownish head, with the individual feathers having darker feathers in the middle. The coat and back are brown and lighter and more dull in color than in the male. The cheeks and ear coverts are whitish and, depending on the subspecies, are speckled to varying degrees of brownish-gray.
The chin, throat and chest are light brown. The individual feathers have dark brown to chestnut colored centers, which creates a speckled appearance. The middle of the abdomen is dark brown. The tail plumage resembles that of the male.
Fledglings are similar to the adult female, but the head, mantle and wing covers are dark brown with white tips. The gray-white feathers on the chin, throat and stomach have brown feather centers. The breast is feathered similar to that of the female.
Distribution area and habitat
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The barnacle lark is represented in large parts of Africa. It occurs in two large areas that are isolated from each other. Only some of the populations are resident birds , other populations nomadize far around in the range.
The first distribution area extends from Senegal, Gambia and the south of Mauritania via Mali, Niger, the north of Nigeria, Chad to Sudan, Ethiopia, the north-west and south of Somalia, the north and east of Kenya and the central area and south of Tanzania.
The second major distribution area is further south of Africa. It extends from the extreme south of Angola, across the north and center of Namibia and the south of Zambia via Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to the northeast of the South African Republic.
The habitat of the white-cheeked lark are open areas with stony and sandy soils that are only sparsely covered with bushes or trees. It is also found on grassy savannahs, wasteland, and airports. It is less common in the thorn bush savannah. The altitude distribution of the northern populations reaches up to 1800 meters, the more southern populations are generally no longer to be found above 1200 meters.
Subspecies and their respective distribution area
There are five subspecies:
- E. l. melanocephalus - ( Lichtenstein, MHK , 1823) : Originally described as an independent species of the genus Alauda , this subspecies occurs from Senegal and Gambia to the middle of Sudan.
- E. l. leucotis - ( Stanley , 1814) : Found in the south and east of Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and the north-west of Somalia.
- E. l. madaraszi - ( Reichenow , 1902) : Occurrence from the south of Somalia and Kenya to the north of Malawi and the north of Mozambique.
- E. l. hoeschi - White, CMN , 1959 : Occurrence from southern Angola and northern Namibia to western Zimbabwe.
- E. l. smithi - ( Bonaparte , 1850) : Occurrence from southern Zambia and southern Malawi to the east of the South African Republic.
Way of life
The barnacle lark mainly eats grass seeds. Field locusts and other insects are usually eaten when they are also raising nestlings.
The breeding season of the white-cheeked lark falls in the north of the range mainly in the period October to March. It falls into the dry season. In Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, however, the white-cheeked lark breeds from March to September. The larks found in the South African Republic usually breed in March and April.
The nest is typical of larks, the nest bowl has an inner diameter of about 5 centimeters and is 3 centimeters deep. The nest is built from dry grass and roots. It is laid out with finer plant material. The clutch usually consists of two eggs. These have a fresh full weight of 1.86 grams. Both parent birds breed, with the female having a larger share of the breeding business and usually sitting on the nest at night. The incubation period is 11 days. Barnacle larks probably raise two broods a year.
During the breeding season, white-faced larks can be found solitary or in pairs. Outside of the breeding season they form flocks that can contain up to 50 individuals. The flocks can also include other larks of the genus Eremopterix . They are particularly often associated with harlequin larks.
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
- ↑ a b c d e Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 152.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Handbook of the Birds of the World zur Weißwangenlerche , accessed on March 15, 2017
- ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 150.
- ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 151.
- ^ IOC World Bird List 6.4 . In: IOC World Bird List Datasets . September. doi : 10.14344 / ioc.ml.6.4 .