Bimaculated Lark
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| 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.
It is mainly migratory, wintering in northeast Africa, through the Middle East to India. 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.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Melanocorypha bimaculata. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
