Short-tailed lark
Species of bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The short-tailed lark (Spizocorys fremantlii) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae.
| Short-tailed lark | |
|---|---|
| |
| P. f. delamerei in Serengeti N.P. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Alaudidae |
| Genus: | Spizocorys |
| Species: | S. fremantlii |
| Binomial name | |
| Spizocorys fremantlii (Lort Phillips, 1897) | |
| Subspecies | |
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See text | |
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| resident range | |
| Synonyms | |
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It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are dry savannah, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.[1]
Taxonomy and systematics
The short-tailed lark was originally placed in the genus Calendula (which was subsequently renamed to Galerida) and then to the monotypic genus Pseudalaemon before it was re-classified to Spizocorys in 2014.[2][3]
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized:[4]
- Somali short-tailed lark (S. f. fremantlii) - (Lort Phillips, 1897): Found in south-eastern Ethiopia and Somalia
- S. f. megaensis - (Benson, 1946): Found in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya
- Kenya short-tailed lark (S. f. delamerei) - (Sharpe, 1900): Originally described as a separate species. Found in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania
Behaviour and ecology
Food and feeding
The diet of the short-tailed lark consists mostly of vegetable material.[5]
