Temminck's lark

Temminck's lark
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Alaudidae
Genus:	Eremophila
Species:	E. bilopha
Binomial name
Eremophila bilopha (Temminck, 1823)

Temminck’s lark or Temminck’s horned lark (Eremophila bilopha), breeds across much of north Africa, through northern Saudi Arabia to western Iraq. It is mainly resident, but some populations of this passerine bird are partially migratory, moving further south in winter.

This lark is a bird of open stony semi-desert. Its nest is on the ground, with two to four eggs being laid. Its food is seeds supplemented with insects in the breeding season.

Unlike most other larks, Temminck’s lark is a distinctive looking species on the ground, similar to the other, larger, member of its genus, the shore lark. The 14- to 15-cm adult is mainly reddish brown-grey above and pale below, and it has a striking black and white face pattern. The summer male has black "horns", which give this species its alternative name. The juvenile of this species is reddish above and pale below, quite unlike juvenile shore lark.

The adult Temminck’s lark differs from the shore lark in its reddish, rather than brown-grey plumage, and the lack of yellow in the face pattern. It has a similar but less harsh metallic call.

This bird's common name commemorates the Dutch naturalist Coenraad Jacob Temminck.^[2]

References