Short-tailed lark

The short-tailed lark (Spizocorys fremantlii) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae.

Short-tailed lark
P. f. delamerei in Serengeti N.P.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alaudidae
Genus: Spizocorys
Species:
S. fremantlii
Binomial name
Spizocorys fremantlii
(Lort Phillips, 1897)
Subspecies

See text

resident range
Synonyms
  • Calendula fremantlii
  • Galerida fremantlii
  • Pseudalaemon fremantlii

It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are dry savannah, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.[1]

Illustrated by Keulemans

Taxonomy and systematics

The short-tailed lark was originally placed in the genus Calendula (which was subsequently renamed to Galerida) and then to the monotypic genus Pseudalaemon before it was re-classified to Spizocorys in 2014.[2][3]

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized:[4]

  • Somali short-tailed lark (S. f. fremantlii) - (Lort Phillips, 1897): Found in south-eastern Ethiopia and Somalia
  • S. f. megaensis - (Benson, 1946): Found in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya
  • Kenya short-tailed lark (S. f. delamerei) - (Sharpe, 1900): Originally described as a separate species. Found in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania

Behaviour and ecology

Food and feeding

The diet of the short-tailed lark consists mostly of vegetable material.[5]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Pseudalaemon fremantlii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. "Spizocorys fremantlii - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  3. "Taxonomy 4.1 to 4.4 « IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  4. "IOC World Bird List 6.4". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4.
  5. Donald, Paul (2010-06-30). The Skylark. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781408133347.


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