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[[Image:Crested_Lark.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by {{user|Chan|Chan}}<br>Location: [[Spain]]]] | [[Image:Crested_Lark.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by {{user|Chan|Chan}}<br>Location: [[Spain]]]] | ||
;[[:Category:Galerida|Galerida]] cristata | ;[[:Category:Galerida|Galerida]] cristata | ||
| + | '''Includes: Maghreb Lark''' | ||
==Identification== | ==Identification== | ||
*Dark streaked grey upperparts | *Dark streaked grey upperparts | ||
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*''G. c. tardinata'': Southern [[Arabia]] | *''G. c. tardinata'': Southern [[Arabia]] | ||
*''G. c. chendoola'': Foothills of southern [[Kashmir]] to east [[Pakistan]], western and northern [[India]] and southern [[Nepal]] | *''G. c. chendoola'': Foothills of southern [[Kashmir]] to east [[Pakistan]], western and northern [[India]] and southern [[Nepal]] | ||
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| + | ''Macrorhyncha'' is sometimes accepted as full species '''Maghreb Lark'''. | ||
==Habitat== | ==Habitat== | ||
Open, dry country and cultivated land. Breeds on railway lines, harbours and industrial sites. | Open, dry country and cultivated land. Breeds on railway lines, harbours and industrial sites. | ||
Revision as of 18:59, 1 April 2011
- Galerida cristata
Includes: Maghreb Lark
Identification
- Dark streaked grey upperparts
- White underparts
- Long spiky erectile crest
- Reddish underwings
Flight outline shows broad rounded wings and a square tail.
Similar Species
Eurasian Skylark and in Iberia and Africa Thekla Lark
Distribution
Europe and Asia from Portugal to northeast China and eastern India; Africa to Niger.
Rare vagrant to the British Isles.
Taxonomy
There are 37 subspecies.
Subspecies[1]
- G. c. cristata: Central Europe to Slovenia, Belarus, northern Hungary, northern Ukraine
- G. c. pallida: Iberian Peninsula
- G. c. neumanni: Italy (Toscana south to Rome area)
- G. c. apuliae: Southern peninsular Italy and Sicily
- G. c. tenuirostris: Eastern Hungary and Romania to southern Russia and western Kazakhstan
- G. c. meridionalis: Southern Yugoslavia to mainland Greece, Ionian Islands, Crete and western Turkey
- G. c. caucasica: Eastern [[Aegean Islands, northern Turkey, southern Caucasus and western Transcaucasia
- G. c. subtaurica: Central Turkey to southern Transcaucasia, north-western Iran, western Turkmenistan and eastern Iraq
- G. c. cypriaca: Kárpathos, Rhodes and Cyprus
- G. c. zion: Southern Turkey, Syria, eastern Lebanon, and eastern Israel (south to Jerusalem)
- G. c. cinnamomina: Western Lebanon (west from Beirut) and north-western Israel (Mount Carmel and Haifa)
- G. c. magna: Southern Kazakhstan to eastern Mongolia and northern China (Inner Mongolia)
- G. c. leautungensis: Manchuria and north-eastern China
- G. c. coreensis: Korea
- G. c. iwanowi: Central Turkmenistan to Iran, Tadjikistan, Afghanistan and north-western Pakistan
- G. c. lynesi: Northern Kashmir (Gilgit Valley)
- G. c. kleinschmidti: North-western Morocco (east to Rif Mountains and south to Middle Atlas)
- G. c. riggenbachi: Western Morocco (Casablanca to Sous Valley)
- G. c. carthaginis: Coastal north-eastern Morocco to northern Tunisia (east to Sousse)
- G. c. randoni: Hauts Plateaux of eastern Morocco and north-western Algeria
- G. c. macrorhyncha : Southern Morocco and north-western Algeria south of Atlas Saharien to west-central Mauritania
- G. c. balsaci: Coastal Mauritania
- G. c. arenicola: North-eastern Algerian Sahara to southern Tunisia and north-western Libya
- G. c. helenae: South-eastern Algeria and immediately adjacent south-western Libya
- G. c. festae: Coastal north-eastern Libya (Benghazi to Tobruq)
- G. c. brachyura: North-eastern Libya to coastal northern Egypt, northern Sinai, northern Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq
- G. c. nigricans: Northern Egypt (Nile Delta)
- G. c. maculata: Egypt (Nile Valley from Cairo to Aswan and El Faiyum)
- G. c. halfae: Egypt (Nile Valley south of Aswan) to extreme northern Sudan (Wadi Halfa)
- G. c. senegallensis: Southern Mauritania, Senegambia and Guinea-Bissau to Niger
- G. c. jordansi: Northern Niger (Aïr Mountains)
- G. c. alexanderi (zalingei): Northern Nigeria to western Sudan and north-eastern Zaire
- G. c. isabellina: Central Sudan (Kordofan to Nile Valley)
- G. c. altirostris: Eastern Sudan (east of Nile Valley) and Eritrea
- G. c. somaliensis: Northern Somalia, southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya
- G. c. tardinata: Southern Arabia
- G. c. chendoola: Foothills of southern Kashmir to east Pakistan, western and northern India and southern Nepal
Macrorhyncha is sometimes accepted as full species Maghreb Lark.
Habitat
Open, dry country and cultivated land. Breeds on railway lines, harbours and industrial sites.
- Specifically for Iberia:
- Fine soils or sand
- Sand dunes, Dry saltmarsh edges and humanised habitats like farmland, dusty car parks and tracks.
- Percentage of woody vegetation cover usually very low and including substantial amount of bare ground. Can be near trees, these often Olive, Figs, Citrus, Carob or Almond.
- Often occurring in small niches of suitable habitats
Behaviour
Shuffling gait when feeding.
Flight
Rather 'heavy' and flapping action with marked undulations.
Breeding
It is a ground nester; 2-3 eggs are laid.
Diet
The diet includes the seeds of weeds and insects.
Vocalisation
The long flight song can be difficult to separate from Thekla Lark
<flashmp3>Galerida cristata (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
- Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
- Birdforum thread on habitat
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Crested Lark. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Crested_Lark
External Links
