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Alaudidae

(Family)

Overview

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Larks are birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, including northern and eastern Australia; only one, the Shore Lark, has spread to North America, where it is called the Horned Lark. Habitats vary widely, but many species live in dry regions.

Description

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Larks are small to medium-sized birds, 12 to 24 cm (5 to 8 inches) in length and 15 to 75 grams (0.5 to 2.6 ounces) in weight (Kikkawa 2003).

They have more elaborate calls than most birds, and often extravagant songs given in display flight (Kikkawa 2003). These melodious sounds (to human ears), combined with a willingness to expand into anthropogenic habitats — as long as these are not too intensively managed — have ensured larks a prominent place in literature and music, especially the Skylark in northern Europe and the Crested Lark and Calandra L ark in southern Europe.

With these song flights, males defend their breeding territories and attract mates. Most species build nests on the ground, usually cups of dead grass, but in some species more complicated and partly domed. A few desert species nest very low in bushes, perhaps so circulating air can cool the nest. Larks' eggs are usually speckled, and clutch sizes range from 2 (especially in species of the driest deserts) to 6 (in species of temperate regions). Larks incubate for 11 to 16 days (Kikkawa 2003).

Like many ground birds, most lark species have long hind claws, which are thought to provide stability while standing. Most have streaked brown plumage, some boldly marked with black or white. Their dull appearance camouflages them on the ground, especially when on the nest. They feed on insects and seeds; though adults of most species eat seeds primarily, all species feed their young insects for at least the first week after hatching. Many species dig with their bi lls to uncover food. Some larks have heavy bills (reaching an extreme in the Thick-billed Lark) for cracking seeds open, while others have long, down-curved bills, which are especially suitable for digging (Kikkawa 2003).

Larks are the only passerines that lose all their feathers in their first moult (in all species whose first moult is known). This may result from the poor quality of the chicks' feathers, which in turn may result from the benefits to the parents of switching the young to a lower-quality diet (seeds), which requires less work from the parents (Kikkawa 2003).

In many respects, including long tertial feathers, larks resemble other ground birds such as pipits. However, in larks the tarsus (the lowest leg bone, connected to the toes) has only one set of scales on the rear surface, which is rounded. Pipits and all other songbirds have two plates of scales on the rear surface, which meet at a protruding rear edge (Ridgway 1907).

Relationships

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Larks are a well-defined family, partly because of the shape of the tarsus (Ridgway 1907). They were long placed at or near the beginning of the songbirds or oscines (now often called Passeri), just after the suboscines and before the swallows, for example in the American Ornithologists' Union's first check-list (American Ornithologists' Union 1886, according to Patterson 2002). Some authorities, such as the British Ornithologists' Union (Dudley et al. 2006) and the Handbook of the Birds of the World, adhere to that placement. However, many other classifications follow the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy in placing the larks in a large oscine subgroup Passerida (which excludes crows, shrikes and their allies, vireos, and many groups characteristic of Australia and southeastern Asia). For instance, the American Ornithologists' Union places larks just after the crows, shrikes, and vireos. At a finer level of detail, some now place the larks at the beginning of a superfamily Sylvioidea with the swallows, various "Old World warbler" and "babbler" groups, and others (Barker et al. 2002, Alström et al. 2006).

Species in Taxonomic Order

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FAMILY: ALAUDIDAE

Photos

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Taxonomy

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The Family Alaudidae is a member of the Superfamily Passeroidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Alaudidae:

The Family Alaudidae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Genera

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Alaemon

The name Hoopoe Lark (or Hoopoe-lark) can be used in one of two ways: [more]

Alauda

Alauda is a of larks with three species found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one species (the Raso Lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. [more]

Ammomanes

Ammomanes is a of lark in the Alaudidae family. [more]

Calandrella

Calandrella is a genus of in the Alaudidae family. [more]

Calandrites

[more]

Certhilauda

Certhilauda is a genus of in the Alaudidae family. [more]

Chersomanes

The Spike-heeled Lark (Chersomanes albofasciata) is a species of in the Alaudidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Chersomanes. [more]

Chersophilus

The Dupont's Lark (Chersophilus duponti), is the only in the genus Chersophilus. It breeds across much of north Africa, from Algeria to Egypt, and in Spain and France. It is a non-migratory resident. [more]

Coraphites

[more]

Eremophila

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia. [more]

Eremopterix

Eremopterix is the of sparrow-larks, songbirds in the family Alaudidae. [more]

Eremorphila

Galerida

Galerida is a genus of . [more]

Lullula

The Woodlark (Lullula arborea) is the only in the genus Lullula. It breeds across most of Europe, the Middle East Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations of this passerine bird are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range, many birds move south in winter. [more]

Lullulla

[more]

Megalophonus

[more]

Melancorypha

[more]

Melanocorypha

Melanocorypha is a small genus of in the lark family. Its members mainly occur in temperate Asia from Turkey through Central Asia to China, but the Calandra Lark also has an extensive European distribution around the Mediterranean [more]

Miraffra

[more]

Mirafra

Mirafra is a genus of in the Alaudidae family. Three of its species are soemtimes separated in Calendulauda. Some Mirafra species are called "larks", while others are called "bushlarks". [more]

Otocoris

[more]

Phyleremos

[more]

Pinarocorys

Pinarocorys is a genus of in the Alaudidae family. [more]

Pseudalaemon

The Short-tailed Lark (Pseudalaemon fremantlii) is a species of in the Alaudidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Pseudalaemon. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. [more]

Ptilocorys

[more]

Pyrrhulauda

[more]

Rhamphocoris

[more]

Spizocorys

Spizocorys is a genus of in the Alaudidae family. [more]

At least 8 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Spizocorys.

More info about the Genus Spizocorys may be found here.

References

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Sources

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Last Revised: September 22, 2009
2009/09/22 12:21:54