Morocco Larks: Crested or Thekla? (1 Viewer)

dalat · Apr 22, 2013

Hi,
during the my trip in the past two weeks in Morocco, Larks with a crest were probably the most viewed road side bird. I always tried to find a Thekla, but never really saw that triangular bill shown in the Collins, so I put all down as Crested. Now I went through the pictures (should have taken more shots of more birds) and still think its all Crested I got, perhaps bird 2 is a candidate for Thekla? What do you think.
Thanks, Florian

dalat · Apr 22, 2013

Here a short video of bird 1: http://youtu.be/7V7_hly7HRw

Southern Frogmouth · Apr 22, 2013

Hi Florian,

Something to bear in mind is that both Thekla and Crested have longer bills in NW Africa than birds on mainland Europe so you wouldn't find the 'triangular' bill depicted in Collins on Moroccan birds anyway. No. 2 does look like a reasonable candidate for Thekla on bill structure - although the really spiky crest does concern me a bit.

Cheers

Roy

eddy the eagle · Apr 23, 2013

From my experience of these they are all crested....Eddy

Valéry Schollaert · Apr 23, 2013

Hi there,

Thekla is very common in Morocco; amazing how people can struggle to find one. On your photos, we have Crested Lark on the two first sets. The last one looks good for the newly splitted Maghreb Lark Galerida macrorhyncha, here sub-species randonii. Where is taken the photo?

dalat · Apr 23, 2013

Valéry Schollaert said:
Thekla is very common in Morocco; amazing how people can struggle to find one.

Yes, it was driving me mad. But then, if I see Roy's comment, I was probably looking for the wrong features. What are the things to look for to separate Crested from Thekla in Morocco?

Valéry Schollaert said:
The last one looks good for the newly splitted Maghreb Lark Galerida macrorhyncha, here sub-species randonii. Where is taken the photo?

Interesting, even more complicated than I thought, wasn't aware of this split. If I read this thread correctly, in particular the map in post 18, Crested and Maghreb have basically different ranges in Morocco, is that right?

Bird 3 was photographed at the lake near Merzouga, should thus fit with your ID, Valéry, right?
The other birds are from the Souss valley, Bird 1 near Taliouine, Bird 2 near Taroudant.

Florian

dalat · Apr 23, 2013

Reading a bit more, I see that habitat and perching is mentionned a lot as (unreliable) criteria, so to be complete:
Bird 1: east of Taliouine, stony and grassy ground, singing perched on a low stone.
Bird 2: east of Taroudant, scattered Argan trees on cultivated or grassy ground, bird singing on top of trees, I recall it was quite windy (perhaps influencing crest shape)
Bird 3: Merzouga, low grass at shore of temporary lake, near low Tamarisk brush, bird feeding on the ground.

chris butterworth · Apr 23, 2013

I'm still not sure on the first bird, the second shows a definite convex lower mandible making it Thekla although, like Roy, that crest seems more like Crested. The final bird has a Thekla-type crest and a very long, slender bill, but still Thekla-shaped, and is in the right area for Maghreb Lark. No chance of you having photos of the rump and undertail in flight? The contrast between the rump / uppertail coverts and the rest of the upperparts is often far more useful than bill shape.

Chris

Valéry Schollaert · Apr 23, 2013

Hi there,

I wrote a paper (in French) on Moroccan Galerida for the GOMAC (a Moroccan bird association) some ten years ago, and I had to read it back to summarize this:

In Souss Valley, we have

-G. cristata riggenbachi
-G. theklae ruficolor

I've written than neither crest of bill can be usein those subspecies, as length are overlapping. Therefore, only rump and mantle can be diagnostic. Rump is rufous in ruficolor and mantle is marked with dark streaked, as here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyjello/5347535802/

Therefore, our birds are definitely Crested Larks.

Last bird is indeed Maghreb Lark (G. macrorhyncha randonii), only Galerida in Merzouga.

Cheers

dalat · Apr 23, 2013

Thanks Chris and Valéry for more info and comments. Sorry, not more photos, I posted all I have.

Valéry, I would be interested in that paper of yours (French is no problem), is that available on the net somewhere? EDIT: I found it here

My photos unfortunately don't show the mantle anmd rump well, but doesn't bird 1 appear similarely streaked on the mantle as the bird you linked?

Thanks for your patience, learning a lot here

Barred Wobbler · Apr 23, 2013

Very interesting information about that split. I wish I'd been aware of it when I was in Morocco last spring and I would have taken much more notice of the many crested larks we saw. At the time I understood that the African birds were a different shade of brown to the Spanish birds with which I'm familiar, but that was it. I was on the lookout for more exotic fare and I didn't realise I might have some right under my nose.

What about these two birds? The first was near Tazentout as we came down from the Atlas towards Ouarzazate. The second was at M'Hamid. I presume it's a Maghreb from the size of the bill.

If only I'd known then what I know now.

Valéry Schollaert · Apr 23, 2013

My photos unfortunately don't show the mantle anmd rump well, but doesn't bird 1 appear similarely streaked on the mantle as the bird you linked?

I don't think so, clearly Crested IMO, but photos can be difficult of course.

What about these two birds? The first was near Tazentout as we came down from the Atlas towards Ouarzazate. The second was at M'Hamid. I presume it's a Maghreb from the size of the bill.

They look ike Maghreb Lark indeed, less macrorhyncha and more randonii than OP bird 3. According to map on the other post, Merzouga holds macrorhyncha (while I thought there were randonii). It makes sense, despite I still don't know were is the limit and if there is intergrades.

Barred Wobbler · Apr 23, 2013

Thanks Valéry. What would be the defining characteristics of randonii over macrorhyncha?

Valéry Schollaert · Apr 23, 2013

Macrorhyncha is the "desert" one, very sandy, very long bill while randonii is somehow less typical with greyer, slightly more streaked plumage. I guess it is/was the intergrate between [cristata] and randonii.

dalat · Apr 23, 2013

Thanks Valéry, thanks all for the many comments! Very instructive again!

As a main conclusion from this discussion and your article, Valery, I'll take then that

la distinction avec G. c. riggenbachi, répandu dans presque toute la zone de répartition de G. t. ruficolor est une des difficultés majeures d'identification des Cochevis au Maroc

and

Leur distinction est un véritable casse-tête

I'll certainly have a closer look at all those crested Larks the next time. But not sure yet I'll do better then :-O

Morocco Larks: Crested or Thekla? (1 Viewer)

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