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Thekla Lark? (1 Viewer)

Andrew S

Kentish Mother
I blithely posted this Moroccan bird to the Gallery confidently stating it was a Thekla Lark, based mainly on the bill shape.

4087Thekla_Lark.jpg


In the Collins guide they emphasise the straight lower edge to the bill of the Crested Lark, compared to the slightly convex lower edge on the Thekla which this bird appears to have.

However looking through the Concise BWP this point does not come across clearly from the illustrations, and I am now beginning to have doubts. In particular, the "paler and warmer brown" of the Thekla crest is not apparent, and the crest could be more the shape of the Crested. However, I still think the bill looks more like the Thekla in both Collins and Lars Jonsson's book. Can anyone bolster my confidence?

I attach a couple of further pics. Not sure they were all the same bird, as there were two hopping around together, but I assumed they were the same species.

One of the pics shows the bird on top of a bushy flower, and Collins has perching in bushes as Thekla thing (although admittedly this is not quite a bush, and it's on it rather than in it...).

Thanks all.
 

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Hi Andrew,
Ah,the thorny matter of Crested/Thekla Lark ID raises its ugly head!While I have never seen Thekla,and have limited experience of Crested,may I start by saying that the bill is a bit on the short side perhaps for Crested,particularly as I seem to recall reading that N.African Cresteds have longer bills than European birds?
Therefore I would agree for now with Thekla,with the proviso that I may be completely wrong!At least I have a 50/50 chance of being correct....;)
Harry
 
I was about to say Crested - just based on my first impression, but then realised that you would be dealing wth one of the North African races of which I have little experience.

I'd take the bush perching with a pinch of salt - Crested perch all over the place in my experience depending on habitat and disturbance.

What is really interesting is the contrast of tones between the two photos which just illustrate how hard it is to id things from pictures if tone and colour are important.

I expect one of ther BF experts will put your mind at rest soon - I look forward to the debate!
 
Would tend to agree with Harry on the bill length, but then I'm not sure how much overlap there is between North African Crested and Thekla.
 
Both Thekla and Crested in N Africa have longer bills and paler colours. Lars Svensson's "Passerines" book says both bill length and shape are also applicable there so I'd say it's Thekla based on that.
 
I'd go with Thekla. Most of the Crested I've seen have been from the Middle East - and I've limited experience of Thekla - but I've certainly never seen such a well-streaked Crested before, and the bill definitely looks short too.

Oh, and as Rob said earlier, Cresteds will often fly onto a small bush if they're disturbed, so I wouldn't consider the fact that this bird is perched up to be of much use in iding it.
 
Hollom and Porter in his "Birds of the Middle East and North Africa" say:
Thekla has breast-spots bolder, more sharply defined, blackish against cleaner, whiter ground-colour; densest on side of neck, but sharp demarcation before reaching ear-coverts leaves "whitish half collar", accentuated by darkness of ear coverts.
I see this feature on these pics. Looks good for Thekla.
 
never seen Thekla Lark in the field, but have seen lots of Cresteds;
therefore looking at this bird in comparison to the Cresteds I have seen I would vote for Thekla lark in this case
 
Thekla

My experience of Thekla in Morocco is that they can vary tremendously in (apparent) colour depending on light and shade-they can look very
'Olive-backed pipitty' (if you'll excuse the comparison) in the shade and then very (tawny pippity-ouch) in direct overhead light.

The head pattern and bill length look fine for Thekla here.

MV7- looking at plate with 15 Thekla/cresteds on it...
 
seen many of both incl Theklas in Spain and north Afica. Theklas in Morocco are very weird as Manvulture alludes to above.....inland races in Morooco can have bills as long as Crested and less streaking. In fact Hadoram Shirihai reckons these birds are not really identifiable at present and id is best done on voice and habitat (thekla more in bushy upland areas). I have seen many birds in these areas that were not identifiable too on morphology alone.

The bird on the left appears to be a Thekla from the pic - nice blobby breast spots rather than streaks - certainly if it was in a coastal area. The other bird i'm not at all sure about if it is a different individual. The crown on this bird appears to rise not from the forecrown but further back - a feature for Crested and it appears a bit longer than i'd expect.

A good lesser known feature on some birds is the boldness of the shaft streaking on median coverts - dark centred with no shaft streak on thekla and opposite way round on Crested.
Crested has a little more of a primary extension too - again not much use here.
 
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Tim Allwood said:
A good lesser known feature on some birds is the boldness of the shaft streaking on median coverts - dark centred with no shaft streak on thekla and opposite way round on Crested.
Crested has a little more of a primary extension too - again not much use here.
Tim - there is a link in my first post to a pic in the gallery which is side on.
 
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