Dunn's lark (''Eremalauda dunni'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

of the

lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

family. It is a

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

bird which is found across parts of the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

from

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

to central

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Dunn's lark was originally described as belonging to the genus ''

Calendula ''Calendula'' () is a genus of about 15–20 species''Calendula''.
Flora of China.

'' and has also been classified by some authorities as belonging to the genus ''

Ammomanes ''Ammomanes'' is a genus of lark in the family Alaudidae. Taxonomy and systematics Extant species It contains the following three species: Additionally, some authorities continue to place Gray's lark within the genus ''Ammomanes''. Former spe ...

''.

Stark's lark Stark's lark (''Spizocorys starki'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Its natural habitats are dry savannah and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. Captain George Shelley ...

was formerly also classified in the genus ''Eremalauda''; it has since been moved to ''

Spizocorys ''Spizocorys'' is a genus of African larks in the family Alaudidae found in southern and eastern Africa. Taxonomy and systematics Extant species The genus contains seven extant species: * Obbia lark (''Spizocorys obbiensis'') * Sclater's lark ...

'', leaving Dunn's lark as the only species in the genus ''Eremalauda''. The Arabian lark (''E. eremodites'') of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

was formerly considered conspecific, but was classified as a distinct species by the

Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

and by

Birdlife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

, and later by the International Ornithological Congress.

Description

Dunn's lark is a stocky bird with a large head and broad wings. It is 14 to 15 cm long with a wingspan of 25 to 30 cm.Snow, D. W. & Perrins, C. M. (1998) ''Birds of the Western Palearctic: Concise Edition, Vol. 2'', Oxford University Press. The upperparts are pale sandy-brown with darker streaks. The underparts are whitish with some dark streaks on the breast. There is a pale stripe over the eye and a pale ring around it. Birds have dark moustachial and malar stripes and a dark mark under the eye. The short, broad tail is black below while the upperside is black with rusty-brown central feathers and pale outer feathers. The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

is large, heavy and pale pinkish or yellowish in colour. After

moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...

ing, the birds become gradually duller and the dark markings fainter as the

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

becomes more worn.Harris, Alan, Shirihai, Hadoram & Christie, David (1996) ''The Macmillan Birder's Guide to European and Middle Eastern Birds'', Macmillan, London. The

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

is a scratchy warbling with short whistling phrases. Males sing either from the ground or in flight, hovering 30 metres or more above the ground.

Distribution and habitat

In Africa, the species has a scattered range from Mauritania through Mali, Niger and Chad to Sudan.Sinclair, Ian & Ryan, Peter (2003) ''Birds of Africa south of the Sahara'', Struik, Cape Town. Dunn's larks are found in flat, arid areas with light vegetation such as grass and scattered bushes.

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

The nest is a scrape on the ground which is lined with vegetation. Two or three

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

are laid and are incubated for 13 to 16 days. They are white with blackish and lavender spots.

Food and feeding

The diet mainly includes

seeds In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds are the ...

and insects. Birds feed on the ground and sometimes dig for food with their bills. They typically feed in flocks outside the breeding season, moving nomadically in response to rainfall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:lark, Dunn's

Dunn's lark Dunn's lark (''Eremalauda dunni'') is a small passerine bird of the lark family. It is a desert bird which is found across parts of the Sahara from Mauritania to central Sudan. Taxonomy and systematics Dunn's lark was originally described as be ...

Birds of the Sahel Fauna of the Sahara

Taxa named by George Ernest Shelley