The bar-tailed lark or bar-tailed desert lark (''Ammomanes cinctura'') is a species of

lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

in the family

Alaudidae Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

. Two other species, the rufous-tailed lark and the

Cape clapper lark The Cape clapper lark (''Corypha apiata'') is a small passerine bird which breeds in southern Africa. It derives its name from the wing clapping which forms part of the display flight. The Cape clapper lark is a species of open grassland and sava ...

are both also sometimes referred to using the name bar-tailed lark. It is found from Morocco to Pakistan. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is hot

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

s. This is in many places a common species, but elsewhere rather less common. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, but surveys have shown that it is slowly decreasing in numbers. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The bar-tailed lark was originally placed in the genus '' Melanocorypha''. Alternate names for the bar-tailed lark include: bar-tailed finch-lark, black-tailed desert lark, black-tailed lark, and black-tailed sand 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: * ''A. c. cinctura'' - ( Gould, 1839): Found on

Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

* ''A. c. arenicolor'' - (

Sundevall Carl Jakob Sundevall (22 October 1801 in Högestad – 2 February 1875) was a Swedish zoologist. Sundevall studied at Lund University, where he received a Ph.D. in 1823. After traveling to East Asia, he studied medicine, graduating as a Doctor ...

, 1850): Originally described as a separate species 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 ...

''. Found in North African deserts to the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

and western

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

* Persian rufous-tailed finch lark (''A. c. zarudnyi'') -

Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German people, German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married ...

, 1902: Found in eastern Iran, southern Afghanistan and southern Pakistan

Description

The bar-tailed lark is similar to the

desert lark The desert lark (''Ammomanes deserti'') breeds in deserts and semi-deserts from Morocco to western India. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, and surveys have shown that it is slowly increasing in numbers as it expands ...

in appearance, but at , is slightly smaller, with a smaller, more domed head, a smaller beak, thinner legs and a shorter tail. The upper parts are sandy-buff washed with grey, while the underparts are whitish with little if any streaking, and the breast and flanks washed with buff. The rufous wings have dark trailing edges and the rufous tail has a terminal black band.

Distribution and habitat

The bar-tailed lark has a large distribution across North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East and western Asia. Its range includes Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Cape Verde, Chad, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara and Yemen. Its typical habitat is sandy or stony desert or semi desert, with low scrubby vegetation. It is generally shier than the desert lark and has a preference for level ground whereas the desert lark tends to frequent rocky slopes and hillsides.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1584207 bar-tailed lark Birds of Cape Verde Birds of North Africa Birds of the Middle East Birds of Afghanistan Birds of Pakistan bar-tailed lark Taxonomy articles created by Polbot