Greater Short-toed Larks are a small larks. Their
plumage is highly
cryptic.
With the exception of a pale-brownish breast, their underparts,
from chin to undertail coverts, are off-white to creamy. Most
have a small dark patch each on the sides of the chest.
The upperparts are streaked light- and dark-brown, with
wide creamy margins on the wing feathers.
Some individuals (mostly in Iberia and northern Africa) have a
rufous-tinted crown.
The sides of the head are mostly off-white to creamy, except
for the pale-brown ear coverts, the upper dark fringes of which
look like dark eye-stripes.
Worn plumage
in spring looks more greyish than fresh
plumage in
autumn.
The eyes have dark irises.
The short, strong bill is yellowish to horn-coloured, with a
grey culmen. Legs and feet are greyish-pink.
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Greater Short-toed Lark is available
HERE
.
The Greater Short-toed Lark is a migratory species with
8 extant races (for details see a field guide).
Their overall distribution ranges from the Azores and
Iceland in the West, via the fringes of the Sahara desert
and Europe up to the Baltic Sea into Asia Minor, parts of
the Middle East, Arabia and southern and central Asia, as
far to the East as Korea and some islands off the West
coast of Japan.
They breed in the northern parts of their range and overwinter
in the southern parts, mostly sub-Saharan Africa and India.
In Europe there are 3 races of Greater Short-toed Larks,
nominate race "brachydactyla",
(the "European Greater Short-toed Lark" or
"Palestine Greater Short-toed Lark"), "hungarica" (the
"Hungarian Greater Short-toed Lark") and "longipennis"
(the "Eastern Greater Short-toed Lark" or "Yarkand Greater
Short-toed Lark").
Races "brachydactyla"
and "hungarica" breed in the
Mediterranean, from most of Iberia via the coastal fringes
of southern France and Italy, via the Adriatic coastline
to Greece and the western coastline of the Black Sea,
including a few breeding sites in inland Hungary.
Race "longipennis" breeds in far south-eastern Europe,
from the Black Sea to the Caucasus and the Urals.
Greater Short-toed Larks have a preference for breeding
in open, often arid country, with sparse grass growth,
often with sandy patches. Outside the breeding season
they prefer agricultural crops and dry pasture with
short shrubs.
Sightings
Click here for sighting information
Race "brachydactyla"
J. Pires reports finding Greater
Short-toed Larks, nominate race
"brachydactyla", occasionally in the Tejo Estuary, Portugal.
Race "artemisiana"
D. Wilczynska reports finding Greater Short-toed Larks, race
"artemisiana", in Georgia, on the southern slopes of the
Caucasus, in June 2016.
Photos
Race "brachydactyla"
This race is also called the "European Greater Short-toed Lark".
ADULT
MALE
Near-frontal/ventral view of a male Greater Short-toed Lark
in display flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Park, Portugal, April 2017]
Sex unknown
Distant near-frontal view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
in display flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]
Near-lateral view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Park, Portugal, April 2017]
Lateral view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, May 2021]
Lateral view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Park, Portugal, April 2017]
Race "artemisiana"
This race is also called the "Transcaucasian Greater Short-toed Lark".
ADULT
Sex unknown
Near-frontal view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]
Lateral view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]
Lateral view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]
Near-dorsal view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]
Near-dorsal view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]
Near-dorsal view of a Greater Short-toed Lark
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]
More Greater Short-toed Lark sound recordings are available at
xeno-canto.org
.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.