Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Euornithes
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Ornithurae
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Telluraves
Cladus: Australaves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Passerida
Superfamilia: Passeroidea
Familia: Alaudidae
Genus: Alaemon
Species: Alaemon alaudipes
Name
Alaemon alaudipes (Desfontaines, 1789)
Vernacular names
The greater hoopoe-lark (Alaemon alaudipes) is a passerine bird which is a breeding resident of arid, desert and semi-desert regions from the Cape Verde Islands across much of northern Africa, through the Arabian peninsula, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It was formerly known as the bifasciated lark and sometimes as the large desert lark.[2]
Taxonomy and systematics
Formerly, the greater hoopoe-lark was classified as belonging to the genera Upupa and Certhilauda until moved to Alaemon.[2] The name Alaemon comes from the Greek alēmōn, meaning "wanderer" (from alaomai, meaning "to wander"). The genus was established by Alexander Keyserling and Johann Heinrich Blasius in 1840.
Subspecies
Four subspecies are recognized:[3]
Cape Verde greater hoopoe-lark (A. a. boavistae) - Hartert, 1917: Found on the Cape Verde Islands
North African greater hoopoe-lark (A. a. alaudipes) - (Desfontaines, 1789): Found in northern Africa from southern Morocco and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula
A. a. desertorum - (Stanley, 1814): Originally described as a separate species in the genus Alauda. Found in north-eastern Sudan to northern Somalia, central Saudi Arabia to southern Yemen
Eastern greater hoopoe-lark (A. a. doriae) - (Salvadori, 1868): Originally described as a separate species in the genus Certhilauda. Found in eastern Arabia to Iraq, Iran and north-western India
Description
Head pattern of male
This lark is large, long-legged and slender-bodied with a distinctive down-curved bill. The face has dark markings including a line through the eye and whisker like-lines from the base of bill running under the eye. The breast is spotted and the underside is buffy white while the upper-parts are sandy grey. The female is slightly smaller with less prominent markings and the bill is slightly shorter.[4] The hind claw is short and straight.[5] The curved upper beak has the nostril opening exposed.[6] The tongue is bifid at the tip.[7]
Behaviour and ecology
Tarsus
Birds are seen singly or in pairs as they forage by running or walking in spurts, probing and digging the ground. They have been recorded to feed on the fruiting bodies of certain fungi.[8] The breeding season is mainly after the first rains, in India most records are from March to July. Late records in August when the rains were delayed have been noted in India.[9] The courtship display of the male consists of rising with fluttering wing-strokes and then diving down with closed wings to a perch. The slow flappy start to the song flight recall a hoopoe for which this species is named. The striking wing pattern of black wing feathers with a white base and trailing edge; and a white tail with black outer feathers are displayed in flight. The male also sings with rising and falling notes consisting of trilled whistles and clicks that have been transcribed as a tee-tee-tee followed by a prolonged tee-hoo while nosediving. The typical call is a rolling zreee or too. The nest is a cup made up of small sticks and placed on a low bush or on the ground, sometimes at the base of a bush.[4][10] The nest is prominent and often placed on an isolated bush.[11] Two or three eggs are laid and both sexes take turns in incubation. They feed on insects and other invertebrates, small lizards and seeds. Young birds are capable of swift running even before they can fly. The female may perform distraction displays when the young or nest are threatened.[7]
Perched on a bush (Mauritania)
During the heat of the day, they may shelter in the burrows of Uromastyx lizards.[12][13] The water loss through their skin varies with temperature and they are able to live in very arid conditions.[14] Their breeding is dependent on the rains and in very dry years they may not breed.[15]
Distribution and populations
The wide distribution consists of several populations that have been designated as subspecies. These include boavistae of the Cape Verde Islands, the nominate alaudipes of the north African Sahara region and northern Arabia. Subspecies desertorum has been assigned to the populations along the Red Sea coast while the eastern population of Iraq, Pakistan and north-western India are assigned to doriae. Forms like pallida and variety cinerea are included in doriae.[16][17][18]
References
BirdLife International (2017). "Alaemon alaudipes". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22717262A118704240. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22717262A118704240.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
"Alaemon alaudipes - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
"IOC World Bird List 6.4". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4.
Rasmussen PC; JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. p. 309.
Ramsay, Wardlaw (1923). Guide to the birds of Europe and North Africa. Gurney and Jackson, London. p. 52.
Oates, EW (1890). Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 2. Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 316–318.
Ali S; SD Ripley (1986). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 5 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 16–19.
Alsheikh, A.M.; Trappe, J.M. (1983). "Taxonomy of Phaeangium lefebvrei, a desert truffle eaten by birds". Canadian Journal of Botany. 61 (7): 1919–1925. doi:10.1139/b83-204.
Bulkley, H (1902). "Nidification of the Desert Sand Lark Alaemon desertorum". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 14 (1): 179–180.
Tieleman BI; H J Van Noordwijk; JB Williams (2008). "Nest site selection in a hot desert: trade-off between microclimate and predation risk?" (PDF). The Condor. 110 (1): 116–124. doi:10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.116. hdl:11370/943c7a73-2f49-4aea-80e2-4ad317fa3f94. S2CID 15080004.
Betham, RM (1920). "The Desert Lark (Alaemon desertorum)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27 (2): 400–401.
Cunningham P L (2000). "The use of burrows by Hoopoe Lark (Alaemon alaudipes)". Tribulus. 10: 21.
Williams, J. B.; Tieleman, B. I. & Shobrak, M. (1999). "Lizard burrows provide thermal refugia for larks in the Arabian desert" (PDF). Condor. 101 (3): 714–717. doi:10.2307/1370208. hdl:11370/724460c3-824d-4eba-ac1d-fca57cc5fae8. JSTOR 1370208.
Haugen, Michael J.; Tieleman, B. Irene; Williams, Joseph B. (2003). "Phenotypic flexibility in cutaneous water loss and lipids of the stratum corneum". J. Exp. Biol. 206 (20): 3581–3588. doi:10.1242/jeb.00596. PMID 12966049.
Tieleman BI; JB Williams (2002). "Effects of food supplementation on behavioural decisions of hoopoe-larks in the Arabian Desert: balancing water, energy and thermoregulation" (PDF). Animal Behaviour. 63 (3): 519–529. doi:10.1006/anbe.2001.1927. S2CID 16483894. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-09-26.
Dickinson, E.C.; R.W.R.J. Dekker; S. Eck & S. Somadikarta (2001). "Systematic notes on Asian birds. 12. Types of the Alaudidae". Zool. Verh. Leiden. 335: 85–126.
Vaurie, C (1951). "A study of Asiatic larks". Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 97: 431–526. hdl:2246/952.
Mayr E; JC Greenway Jr, eds. (1960). Check-list of birds of the World. Volume 9. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 39.
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