Bimaculated lark
| Bimaculated lark | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Bimaculated lark in Taukum Desert | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Alaudidae |
| Genus: | Melanocorypha |
| Species: | M. bimaculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Melanocorypha bimaculata (Menetries, 1832) | |
The bimaculated lark (Melanocorypha bimaculata) breeds in warm temperate countries eastwards from Turkey into Central Asia. It is the eastern counterpart of its relative, the calandra lark. The current genus name, Melanocorypha is from Ancient Greek melas, "black", and koruphos a term used by ancient writers for a now unknown bird, but here confused with korudos, "lark". "Bimaculate" and the specific bimaculata are from New Latin bimaculatus, "two-spotted".[2][3]
It is mainly migratory, wintering in northeast Africa, widely throughout the Greater Middle East to Pakistan, India and Tibet. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
This is a bird of stony semi-desert and higher altitude cultivation. Its nest is on the ground, with 3-4 eggs being laid. Food is seeds and insects, the latter especially in the breeding season. It is gregarious in winter.
This is a large, robust lark, 16–18 cm in length. It is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly streaked grey above and white below, and with two small black patches on the breast sides, which give this species its name. It has a white supercilium.
In flight it shows short broad wings, which are grey-brown below, and a short tail with a white tip, but not white edges. The wing and tail patterns are distinctions from its more westerly relative.
The song is like a harder version of that of calandra lark.
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Melanocorypha bimaculata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 72, 247. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ↑ "Bimaculate". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)