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PLATE 80: LARKS III
Blanford’s Lark Calandrella blanfordi V
L: 14. Resembles Greater Short-toed Lark; occurs SW Arabia, where Greater Short-toed usually
has streaked grey crown while Blanford’s is chestnut-red, usually with blackish lateral streak on
forecrown, dark loral streak and dark horn-grey culmen (in Greater Short-toed, usually no dark
crown-streak, lores pale and culmen generally yellowish-horn); black patches on sides of throat
more horizontal, sometimes almost meeting below white throat. Voice Song uttered in circular,
slightly undulating flight, chew-chew-chew-chew mixed with call-notes and fluid phrases. Call like
Greater Short-toed, sometimes followed by short twitter pit-wit-pit; intense, whistling peeeep, soft
tsuru and explosive Corn-Bunting-like ptk in flight. Habitat Open stony plateaux and fields, often
with scattered bushes, mainly 1800-2500m, lower in winter. Note Vagrant Oman. [Formerly Red-
capped Lark C. cinerea. Sometimes split as a separate species, Rufous-capped Lark C. eremica.]Greater Short-toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla PM,WV, mb
L: 14. Small, with streaked upperparts, buffish-white generally unstreaked underparts with
variable black patch at sides of neck (adult); relatively stout, pointed pale bill, long tertials almost
covering wing-tip; median coverts boldly patterned. Streaked crown greyish, tinged rufous in some
males. From Lesser Short-toed Lark by black neck-patches (in some just thinly streaked smudge),
long tertials and longer bill. Flight undulating; often in dense flocks and flies low. Voice Typical
flight call a sparrow-like tjirp, and drelit. Song unmusical, repetitive short bursts (includes mimicry),
in circling flight. Habitat Steppe, semi-desert, cultivated plains. Note Passage and winter hatched;
absent from north in winter.Lesser Short-toed Lark Alaudala rufescens pm, wv
L: 13. Resembles Greater Short-toed Lark; but stockier, with shorter, stubbier bill, bulging jowls,
more distinctly streaked breast, lacking black patches at sides, and with wing-tip clearly
exposed beyond tertials (beware Greater Short-toed with worn tertials). Upperparts sandy-grey
to rufous-brown; crown occasionally tinged rufous; supercilium generally less noticeable than in
Greater Short-toed, but patterning below eye more pronounced. Flocks in winter and on passage.
Voice Flight call abrupt, fast dry staccato prrrrt or prrr-rrr-rrr; also Eurasian Skylark-like drrie and quick
dreeup. Song, in spiralling flight with unbroken deliberate wingbeats, varied, melodious and heavily
mimetic. Habitat Steppe, saltflats, stony desert, cultivation. Note Passage and winter hatched.Calandra Lark Melanocorypha calandra V
L: 20. Large, heavy-billed lark with relatively short tail. In flight shows blackish underwing with
conspicuous white trailing edge and white sides to tail. On the ground shows swollen yellowish-
horn bill, black patches at sides of lower throat (of variable shape, inconspicuous in some autumn
birds) and variable whitish supercilium. Smaller Bimaculated Lark also has black neck-patches,
but has paler underwing without conspicuous white trailing edge, lacks white at sides of tail, and
instead has white tip. See also female Black Lark. Undulating flight low with deliberate ‘wader-like’
wingbeats. Flocks outside breeding season. Voice Flight call harsh, rolling terrelet; also Eurasian
Skylark-like note. Habitat Open cultivated plains, grass and cereal fields, steppe and wastelands.
Note Partial migrant, summer visitor to some breeding areas; winter hatched; vagrant Bahrain,
Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE.Bimaculated Lark Melanocorypha bimaculata WV, PM
L: 16. Resembles small, shorter-tailed Calandra Lark; in flight has dull grey-brown underwing
without clear white trailing edge, and white-tipped tail with outer feathers buff-brown. On ground,
upperparts show more prominent scaling with head pattern more contrasting than Calandra,
with rusty cheeks, pronounced long white supercilium and dark lores giving capped appearance.
Voice Flight call recalls Calandra, trrelit, with rather gravelly scrunching; also a Short-toed Lark-
like dre-lit. Song includes drawn-out rolling call-note, delivered from ground or air. Habitat Thinly
vegetated hills or marginal stony cultivation up to 2,400m; in winter down to sea level in agricultural
areas, often near penned livestock camps. Note Partial migrant; passage hatched; some winter in
Arabia.