The greater short-toed lark (''Calandrella brachydactyla'') 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. The current scientific name is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

. The genus name, ''Calandrella'', is a diminutive of ''kalandros'', the

calandra lark The calandra lark (''Melanocorypha calandra'') or European calandra-lark breeds in warm temperate countries around the Mediterranean and eastwards through Turkey into northern Iran and southern Russia. It is replaced further east by its relative ...

, and ''brachydactila'' is from ''brakhus'', "short", and ''daktulos'', "toe". It breeds in southern Europe, north-west Africa, and across the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

from Turkey and southern Russia to Mongolia. During migration they form large, tight flocks that move in unison; at other times they form loose flocks.

Taxonomy and systematics

The greater short-toed lark was described by the German naturalist Johann Leisler in 1814 and given the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Alauda brachydactila''. This lark is now placed in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Calandrella ''Calandrella'' is a genus of larks in the family Alaudidae. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Calandrella'' was established by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829 with the greater short-toed lark as the type species. The genus n ...

'' that was established by another German naturalist,

Johann Jakob Kaup Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kaup ...

, in 1829. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''brachydactyla'' is from the

βραχυδακτυλος ''brakhudaktulos'' "short-toed" from ''brakhus'' "short" and ''daktulos'' "toe". The alternate name short-toed lark may also be used for three other species in the genus ''Calandrella''. The

Mongolian short-toed lark The Mongolian short-toed lark or Sykes's short-toed lark (''Calandrella dukhunensis'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It breeds in China and Mongolia and winters in southern Asia. Taxonomy and systematics The Mongolian short-toed ...

was formerly considered as a

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 ...

of the greater short-toed lark (as ''C. b. dukhunensis'') until split in 2016 by the IOC. Formerly, some authorities also considered the

red-capped lark The red-capped lark (''Calandrella cinerea'') is a small passerine bird that breeds in the highlands of eastern Africa southwards from Ethiopia and Somaliland. In the south, its range stretches across the continent to Angola and south to the Cap ...

to be either

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organism ...

(as ''C. cinerea'') with or a subspecies (as ''C. b. cinerea'') of the greater short-toed lark.

Subspecies

Eight

are recognized: * European greater short-toed lark (''C. b. brachydactyla'') or Palestine short-toed lark - ( Leisler, 1814): Found in southern Europe, on Mediterranean islands and in north-western Africa. * Hungarian greater short-toed lark (''C. b. hungarica'') -

Horváth Horváth is a common Hungarian surname. "Horváth" is the 2nd or 4th most common surname in Hungary as well as the most common in Slovakia. It's thought to derive from Hungarian horvát ("Croat") spelled without the final h in old orthography. T ...

, 1956: Found in Hungary and northern Serbia * North African greater short-toed lark (''C. b. rubiginosa'') - Fromholz, 1913: Found in northern Africa * Levant greater short-toed lark (''C. b. hermonensis'') - Tristram, 1865: Originally described as a separate species. Found from southern Turkey and Syria to north-eastern Egypt. The syntypes of ''Calandrella hermonensis'' Tristram
Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1864
p.434), 3 adult males and a juvenile, are held in the vertebrate zoology collection of

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool in Merseyside, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The mu ...

World Museum World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

, with accession numbers NML-VZ T15738, NML-VZ T17770, NML-VZ T17771 and NML-VZ T17773. The specimens were collected at the foot of

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in June 1864 by Canon

Henry Baker Tristram Henry Baker Tristram FRS (11 May 1822 – 8 March 1906) was an English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and ornithologist. As a parson-naturalist he was an early, but short-lived, supporter of Darwinism, attempting to reconcile evolution an ...

. The specimens came to the Liverpool national collection through the purchase of Tristram's collection by the museum in 1896. * BIrelandcik greater short-toed lark (''C. b. woltersi'') - Kumerloeve, 1969: Found in southern Turkey and north-western Syria * Transcaucasian greater short-toed lark (''C. b. artemisiana'') - Banjkovski, 1913: Found from central Turkey and

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

to north-western Iran * Steppe greater short-toed lark (''C. b. longipennis'') - ( Eversmann, 1848): 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 ...

''. Also known as Eastern short-toed lark (a name also used by the

Asian short-toed lark The Asian short-toed lark (''Alaudala cheleensis'') is a lark in the family Alaudidae. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1871. It is found from south-central to eastern Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Formerly or presently, s ...

) or Yarkand short-toed lark. Found from Ukraine and southern Russia to south-central Siberia and southern Mongolia * ''C. b. orientalis'' - Sushkin, 1925: Found in central Siberia, northern Mongolia and northern China

Description

Several subspecies have been named but there is considerable geneflow and the species itself forms part of a larger complex. This is a small pale

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 ...

, smaller than the

skylark ''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 Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially ...

. It is dark-streaked greyish-brown above, and white below, and has a strong pointed bill that is pinkish with a grey culmen. It has a pale supercilium, dark patches on each side of its neck and a dark tail. Some birds in the west of the range have a rufous crown. The sexes are similar. The greater short-toed lark is paler than the Mongolian short-toed lark which also has a shorter bill. In winter they fly in large and compact flocks that swing in synchrony. Care must be taken to distinguish this species from other similar ''Calandrella'' larks, such as the

Mediterranean short-toed lark The Mediterranean short-toed lark (''Alaudala rufescens'') is a small passerine bird found in and around the Mediterranean Basin. It is a common bird with a very wide range from Canary Islands north to the Iberian Peninsula and east throughout N ...

. The nominate form breeds in Europe (Iberia, France, Italy, the Balkans and Romania) and winters in Africa. Subspecies ''hungarica'' breeds in the eastern parts of Europe while ''rubiginosa'' breeds in north-western Africa. Subspecies ''hermonensis'' (sometimes including ''woltersi'') breeds in Turkey, Syria and Egypt. Subspecies ''artemisiana'' (considered by some to be synonymous with ''longipennis'') breeds in Asia Minor and winters in southern west Asia. Subspecies ''longipennis'' breeds in Ukraine, Mongolia and Manchuria and winters in South Asia mainly in the drier zone of north-western India. The song varies between a dry twittering and a more varied and imitative melody. Flocks will often fly together to water in the mornings at favourite spots. In the evenings they roost in open ground, with each bird squatting in a small depression made in the soil.

Distribution and habitat

All but some southernmost populations are migratory, wintering south to the southern edge of the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. This species is a fairly common wanderer to northern and western Europe in spring and autumn. Populations breeding in the Iberian Peninsula winter south of the Sahara in Africa. Here they prefer crop land and dry pastures with short shrubs while the syntopic Mediterranean short-toed larks (''Calandrella rufescens'') prefer drier areas. This is a common bird of dry open country and cultivation. It nests on the ground, laying two to three

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

. Its food is

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s and insects, the latter especially in the breeding season. In colonial India, they were hunted for food as ortolans. They visit parts of South Asia in large flocks during winter and are sometimes attracted to short grass areas along aerodromes and become a

bird strike A bird strike (sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)) is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle (usually an aircraft). The term ...

risk to aircraft.

Status

This species is classified as Least Concern due to its extensive range and large population size. Although the population trend appears to be decreasing, the rate of decline is not considered sufficiently rapid to warrant a threatened status. The breeding population in Europe is estimated to number 9,460,000-18,100,000 mature individuals.

Gallery

Calandrella brachydactyla MHNT.jpg, Eggs of '' Calandrella brachydactyla '' - MHNT Greater Short-toed Lark.jpg, Greater Short-toed Lark Greater short-toed lark (Calandrella brachydactyla) rescued Malta.jpg, after rescue by

BirdLife Malta BirdLife Malta is Malta's biggest environmental movement. The organization's stated aim is to "achieve protection of wild birds, natural habitat and biodiversity". BirdLife Malta is also Malta's first environment NGO. It was founded in Januar ...

References

External links

Videos, photos and sounds
- Internet Bird Collection
Ageing and sexing (PDF; 2.9 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
{{Taxonbar, from=Q24843

greater short-toed lark The greater short-toed lark (''Calandrella brachydactyla'') is a small passerine bird. The current scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, ''Calandrella'', is a diminutive of ''kalandros'', the calandra lark, and ''brachydactila' ...

Birds of Southern Europe Birds of West Asia Birds of Central Asia Birds of North Africa Birds of Africa