Difference between revisions of "Thick-billed Lark" - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 22:17, 31 March 2014

Photo by Daniele Occhiato
Matmata, Tunisia, April 2005

Ramphocoris clotbey

Identification

17cm (6.75 ins)
Short thick bill; projection on lower mandible fits into notch on upper mandible

Pinkish or greyish-brown upperparts
Large black spots on underparts
Black face with a white patch in centre of cheek
White throat and eye-ring

Females not so clearly marked with less streaking

Distribution

Photo by A. Meir
Arava valley, Israel, March 2012

Africa and the Middle East:
Deserts of Western Sahara, extreme northern Mauritania, south and south-eastern Morocco, west and interior northern Algeria, central and southern Tunisia, north-western Libya, central Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia. An irregular and rare visitor to Egypt; a sporadic visitor to southern Israel; an uncommon winter visitor to southern and central Saudi Arabia; small numbers seen occasionally in western Kuwait; vagrant in southern Yemen.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Dry shrubland and hot, stony deserts avoiding sand dunes.

Behaviour

Breeding

Pebbles are used for nest building which the males presents to the female during display. The shallow nest is scraped out of the ground near a stone or bush, with a pebble ramp on one side. The 3 to 5 eggs are incubated by the female from March through to May. The young are tended by both adults. No information available on incubation or fledging times.

Diet

The diet consists of insects, seeds and plants. They use their strong bill to dig for seeds, which are swallowed whole. Grit is used to aid digestion. Forages singly or in small flocks.

Vocalisation

Male song: from both the ground and in flight, consists of a rapid series of twittering notes and a medley of warbling and tinkling notes.
Calls: include a sharp prit, usually in flight, plus wick-wick, sree, coo-ee, wheet-wheet-wheet, with an alarm call of a long plaintive whistle, tsu-ee.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2014)

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Thick-billed Lark. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Thick-billed_Lark

External Links

Search for photos of Thick-billed Lark in the gallery

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 [[Image:03C9286 Thick-billed Lark.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Photo by {{user|A.+Meir|A. Meir}}<br />Arava valley, [[Israel]], March 2012]]
 [[Africa]] and the [[Middle East]]:<br />
-Deserts of [[Western Sahara]], extreme N [[Mauritania]], S and SE [[Morocco]], W and interior N [[Algeria]], C and S [[Tunisia]], NW [[Libya]], C [[Jordan]], N [[Saudi Arabia]]. An irregular and rare visitor to [[Egypt]]; a sporadic visitor to S [[Israel]]; an uncommon winter visitor to S and C [[Saudi Arabia]]; small numbers seen occasionally in W [[Kuwait]]; vagrant in S [[Yemen]].
+Deserts of [[Western Sahara]], extreme northern [[Mauritania]], south and south-eastern [[Morocco]], west and interior northern [[Algeria]], central and southern [[Tunisia]], north-western [[Libya]], central [[Jordan]], northern [[Saudi Arabia]]. An irregular and rare visitor to [[Egypt]]; a sporadic visitor to southern [[Israel]]; an uncommon winter visitor to southern and central [[Saudi Arabia]]; small numbers seen occasionally in western [[Kuwait]]; vagrant in southern [[Yemen]].
 ==Taxonomy==
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ==Behaviour==
 ====Breeding====
-During ground display, male presents to female pebbles that are used in nest building. Nest is made on the ground or beside a stone or bush. It is a shallow scrape, with a rampart of pebbles on the exposed side and lined with vegetation. 3-5 eggs are laid and incubated by female March through May. Both parents feed young. No information available on incubation or fledging times.
+Pebbles are used for nest building which the males presents to the female during display. The shallow nest is scraped out of the ground near a stone or bush, with a pebble ramp on one side. The 3 to 5 eggs are incubated by the female from March through to May. The young are tended by both adults. No information available on incubation or fledging times.
 ====Diet====
-The diet includes seeds, green plant material as well as  insects. It uses its bill to cut off plant material and to dig for food. Hard seeds are swallowed whole and not husked with bill, instead grit is taken with food to aid digestion. Forages singly or in small flocks.
+The diet consists of insects, seeds and plants. They use their strong bill to dig for seeds, which are swallowed whole. Grit is used to aid digestion. Forages singly or in small flocks.
 ====Vocalisation====
-Male song, from both the ground and in flight, consists of a rapid series of twittering notes and a medley of warbling and tinkling notes. Calls include a sharp ''prit,'' usually in flight, plus ''wick-wick,'' ''sree,'' ''coo-ee,'' ''wheet-wheet-wheet,'' with an alarm call of a long plaintive whistle, ''tsu-ee''.
+'''Male song''': from both the ground and in flight, consists of a rapid series of twittering notes and a medley of warbling and tinkling notes.<br />
+'''Calls''': include a sharp ''prit,'' usually in flight, plus ''wick-wick,'' ''sree,'' ''coo-ee,'' ''wheet-wheet-wheet,'' with an alarm call of a long plaintive whistle, ''tsu-ee''.
 ==References==
-#{{Ref-Clements6thAug13}}
+#{{Ref-Clements6thAug13}}#Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2014)
-#Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2014)
 {{ref}}
 ==External Links==