Dupont's lark
| Dupont's lark | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Alaudidae |
| Genus: | Chersophilus Sharpe, 1890 |
| Species: | C. duponti |
| Binomial name | |
| Chersophilus duponti (Vieillot, 1820) | |
Dupont's lark (Chersophilus duponti) is the only lark in the genus Chersophilus.
Description
Like most other larks, Dupont's lark is an undistinguished looking species on the ground. It is 17–18 cm long, slim, with a long neck, long legs and a fine slightly curved bill. It has a thin pale crown stripe and a dark-streaked breast.
Taxonomy and nomenclature
Dupont's lark was originally described by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1820.[2] It was named for the French naturalist Léonard Puech Dupont, who had collected the species and showed it to Vieillot.[3]
There are two races. C. d. duponti of Europe and north-west Africa is mainly brown-grey above and pale below. C. d. margaritae, which occupies most of the rest of the African range, has rufous upperparts.
Distribution
It breeds across much of north Africa, from Algeria to Egypt, and in Spain and France.[1] It is a non-migratory resident.
Behaviour
This is a very shy species, which runs for cover when disturbed. It is difficult to see while running among vegetation but it sometimes sings, standing upright on the edge of a low bush.
Breeding
This is a bird of open sandy semi-desert or steppe with some grass. Its nest is on the ground, with three or four eggs being laid. Its food is seeds and insects.
Vocalisations
Its song is a repeated thin, melancholic whistling phrase, very ventriloquial (difficult to locate) and a nasal whistle given mainly at dawn and dusk or at night.
References
- 1 2 BirdLife International (2012). "Chersophilus duponti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ Vieillot, Louis Jean Pierre (1820) Faune française, ou Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des animaux qui se trouvent en France, constamment ou passagèrement, à la surface du sol, dans les eaux qui le baignent, et dans le lit, pages 173-174 (in French)
- ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2014). The Eponym Dictionary of Birds. New York, NY, USA: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-0574-1.