The large-billed lark or southern thick-billed lark (''Galerida magnirostris'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

found in southern Africa. The name "large-billed lark" may also refer to Bradfield's lark. The name "thick-billed lark" more commonly refers to the species of the same name (i.e. '' Rhamphocoris clotbey'').

Taxonomy and systematics

The large-billed lark was originally placed in the genus ''

Alauda ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species a ...

'', and then ''Calendula'' until that genus was subsequently re-named to the present ''Galerida''. Another alternate name used for the large-billed lark is the long-billed lark.

Subspecies

Three

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognized: * ''G. m. magnirostris'' (

Stephens Stephens is a surname. It is a patronymic and is recorded in England from 1086. Notable people with the surname include: *Alexander H. Stephens (1812–1883), Vice President of the Confederate States *Alison Stephens (1970–2010), British mandoli ...

, 1826): Found in south-western South Africa * ''G. m. sedentaria'' Clancey, 1993: Found in south-western Namibia and western South Africa * Orange Free State large-billed lark, ''G. m. harei'' ( Roberts, 1924): Found in central South Africa, Lesotho

Description

The large-billed lark is 18 cm in length. It is relatively short-tailed and has a thick bill with a yellow base to the lower mandible. It has streaked brown-grey upperparts, and a long white

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

. Like other species in the genus, it has a crest that can be raised in display or alarm. The underparts are cream-coloured with heavy dark streaking on the breast. The heavy bi-coloured bill distinguishes this species from all other African larks. The call of this very vocal species is a soft creaking "''treeeeleeeeleee''".

Distribution and habitat

The large-billed lark is a resident breeder in southern South Africa, Lesotho and southernmost Namibia. Its natural habitat is

fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...

scrub and mountain grassland. The large-billed lark is also found in cultivated and fallow agricultural land.

Behaviour and ecology

Like other larks, the large-billed lark nests on the ground. Its food is seeds and insects, the latter especially in the breeding season.

References

*Sinclair, Hockey and Tarboton, ''SASOL Birds of Southern Africa'',
BirdLife International

External links

Species text
- ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds''
Large-billed lark
Structured guide to the species in southern Africa {{Taxonbar, from=Q1587607 large-billed lark Birds of Southern Africa large-billed lark