Dupont's lark (''Chersophilus duponti'') is a species of

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 occu ...

in the family

Alaudidae 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 occu ...

of the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Chersophilus''. It is found in northern Africa and Spain.

Taxonomy and systematics

Dupont's lark was originally described by

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collecte ...

in 1820 and placed in the genus ''

Alauda ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

''. Vieillot, Louis Jean Pierre (1820
Faune française, ou Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des animaux qui se trouvent en France, constamment ou passagèrement, à la surface du sol, dans les eaux qui le baignent, et dans le lit
pages 173-174 (in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

) It was named for the French naturalist Léonard Puech Dupont, who had collected the species and showed it to Vieillot.

Subspecies

Two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized: * North-western Dupont's lark (''C. d. duponti'') - (

Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collect ...

, 1824): Found in southern Spain, northern Morocco, northern Algeria and northern Tunisia * South-eastern Dupont's lark (''C. d. margaritae'') - ( Koenig, AF, 1888): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''

Alaemon ''Alaemon'' is a genus of birds in the family Alaudidae, commonly called hoopoe larks. Taxonomy and systematics The name ''Alaemon'' comes from the Greek ''alēmōn'', meaning "wanderer" (from ''alaomai'', meaning "to wander"). The genus was est ...

''. Found from central Algeria to western Egypt

Description

Like most other larks, Dupont's lark is an undistinguished looking species on the ground. It is 17–18 cm long, slim, with a long neck, long legs and a fine slightly curved bill. It has a thin pale crown stripe and a dark-streaked breast. The north-western Dupont's lark of Europe and north-west Africa is mainly brown-grey above and pale below. The south-eastern Dupont's lark, which occupies most of the rest of the African range, has rufous upperparts.

Vocalisations

Its song is a repeated thin, melancholic whistling phrase, very ventriloquial (difficult to locate) and a nasal whistle given mainly at dawn and dusk or at night.

Distribution and habitat

It breeds across much of northern Africa, from Algeria to Egypt, and in Spain and France. It is a

non-migratory Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

resident. It is a species that commonly inhabits chaparral areas. However, it experiences a 3.9% annual population decrease in Spain with a 32.8% decrease from 2008 to 2018, shifting its conservation status to vulnerable on the national level and endangered in the regions of Andalusia and Castile-León.

Behaviour and ecology

This is a very shy species, which runs for cover when disturbed. It is difficult to see while running among vegetation but it sometimes sings, standing upright on the edge of a low bush.

Breeding

This is a bird of open sandy semi-desert or

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

with some grass. Its nest is on the ground, with three or four

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

being laid. Its food is

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s and insects.

References

External links

Ageing and sexing by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1266617 Dupont's lark Birds of Southern Europe Birds of North Africa Fauna of the Iberian Peninsula Dupont's lark Dupont's lark