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Oriental Skylark - BirdForum Opus


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Nominate subspecies
Photo by Rakesh
Ponda, Goa, India, May 2006
Alauda gulgula

Identification

Subspecies A. g. inconspicua
Photo by Alok Tewari
Gurgaon Rural, Haryana, India, July-2016

Size: 16 cm
Streaked, yellow-brown upper plumage, Buffy-white outer tail feathers and a short crest. Rufous tinge to primaries, but not as rufous as Mirafra. Small fine bill.
Sexes are similar.

Distribution

Western, Central, South-east Asia and China.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Nominate subspecies
Photo by portnoy58
Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi, Thailand, April 2011

There are 8 subspecies[1]:

  • A. g. inconspicua:
  • A. g. lhamarum:
  • Pamir Mountains and western Himalayas (Kashmir to northern Punjab)
  • A. g. australis:
  • A. g. inopinata:
  • A. g. vernayi:
  • Eastern Himalayas and adjacent China (ae Xizang and western Yunnan)
  • A. g. gulgula:
  • A. g. weigoldi:
  • Eastern China (Shandong to southern Shaanxi and central Sichuan)
  • A. g. coelivox:
  • South-eastern and southern China to northern Vietnam; Hainan Island
  • A. g. wattersi:

Habitat

Prefers open land and short grass, often near waterbodies.

Behaviour

Usually solitary or loose flocks. Runs short distances and crouches when disturbed.

Diet

Its diet includes seeds and insects.

Breeding

Nests on Ground.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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