Hume's short-toed lark

Hume's short-toed lark (Calandrella acutirostris) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in south-central Asia from Iran and Kazakhstan to China.

Hume's short-toed lark
From Laxman chowk, close to Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, Sikkim, India

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alaudidae
Genus: Calandrella
Species:
C. acutirostris
Binomial name
Calandrella acutirostris
Hume, 1873
Subspecies

See text

Taxonomy and systematics

The name commemorates the British naturalist Allan Octavian Hume who described the species.[2] The alternate name short-toed lark may also be used for three other species in the genus Calandrella. The alternate name lesser short-toed lark should not be confused with the species of the same name, Alaudala rufescens. Other alternate names for Hume's short-toed lark include Hume's lark and Karakoram short-toed lark.[3]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized:[4]

  • C. a. acutirostris - Hume, 1873: Found from north-eastern Iran and eastern Kazakhstan to western China
  • Tibet short-toed lark (C. a. tibetana) - Brooks, WE, 1880: Originally described as a separate species. Found from north-eastern Pakistan to Tibetan Plateau

Description

Hume's short-toed lark is similar in size and appearance to the greater short-toed lark but is generally a duller-looking bird with slightly darker plumage and a slightly smaller beak. As with the greater short-toed lark, the colour varies across the broad range and is not a good distinguishing feature. Hume's short-toed lark grows to a length of from 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) and the sexes are similar. The crown is brown with slight diffuse streaking, the cheeks are rufous-brown and the supercilium white. The upper parts are greyish-brown or sandy brown with darker streaking, and the upper tail coverts are washed with rufous-brown. The wings are greyish-brown with black barring and pale tips to the feathers. The underparts are mostly whitish, but there is a dark neck patch and a buffish-grey breast band. The breast is unstreaked. The voice helps distinguish this species; vocalisations include a shrill "trree" and a more rolling "drreep".[5]

gollark: Somehow, still no xenowyrm... can I probably trade it for a CB one?
gollark: CB golden wyvern!
gollark: I currently have hatchling *and* egg space, too.
gollark: I can somehow get stupid amounts of random stuff just browsing the AP (a gold) and cave (a leetle tree, CB nebula), and trade for xenowyrms, but never actually catch them.
gollark: Five hundred years' time, yes.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Calandrella acutirostris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 173–174.
  3. "Calandrella acutirostris - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  4. "IOC World Bird List 6.4". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4.
  5. Mark Beaman; Steve Madge (1998). The Handbook of Bird Identification: For Europe and the Western Palearctic. Christopher Helm. p. 547. ISBN 978-0-7136-3960-5.
Hume's Short-toed Lark(Calandrella acutirostris).Amravati, Maharashtra, India. Photographed by Mr.Ninad Abhang. Dec.2015
Hume's Short-toed Lark(Calandrella acutirostris). Akola, Maharashtra, India. Photographed by Mr.Ravi Dhongle, Feb.2016
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