mdahlem.net WWW

Birds of Oman home   Bird names   News    Family groups 1-26    Tips   Glossary   Plumage   Thumbnails    General information    Credits    PHOTOS FOR SALE
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14	15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24    25    26    PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   R   S   T   V   W

24

Black-crowned Sparrow-lark (Eremopterix nigriceps) Alternate name(s): "Black-crowned Finch-lark" Size: 11.5-12.5 cm; Weight: 12-16 g

Oman: Family Group 24 Family Group 24 Table Grey Wagtail White Wagtail House Sparrow Indian Silverbill Striolated Bunting Black-crowned Sparrow Lark Tree Pipit Thumbnails page Classification table Index of bird names Birds of Oman home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Black-crowned Sparrow-larks are the smallest larks in Eurasia. They have a proportionally large head and bill. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Black-crowned Sparrow-larks are in fact not quite black, but dark chocolate-brown. Apart from the grey frons and ear coverts, the head, neck and underparts, from chin to tail, are all that dark shade of brown. The nape of the neck, back and rump are grey. The wings are grey, with darker grey central chevrons on the coverts. The uppertail is also grey. In-flight the entire body and the underwing coverts are dark-brown; only the flight feathers are grey. Females have an off-white to light-creamy front and a narrow off-white neck band. The rest of the head and the back are light grey-brown, streaked with grey. The wing coverts are also light grey-brown, with dark centres. The flight feathers are dark-grey with wide light grey-brown edges. The irises of both sexes are dark. The strong, triangular bill is grey; legs and feet are greyish-pink. Juveniles resemble females with somewhat paler colours yet.

Taxonomy, classification See Black-crowned Sparrow-lark at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat Click here for information on habitat and range 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 Black-crowned Sparrow-lark is available HERE . Black-crowned Sparrow-larks occur from the Canary Islands in the West, through the southern fringe of the Sahara desert in Africa, via parts of Egypt and of the Middle East, parts of Arabia and along the southern coastal fringe of Asia to the border region of Pakistan with India. Apart from a few patches in central Saudi Arabia, Black-crowned Sparrow-larks populate only the (near-)coastal fringe of the Arabian peninsula, from about Jeddah in the West, through southern Saudi Arabia, all of the Yemeni coastline and on via Oman into the UAE, as far as about Bahrain. Black-crowned Sparrow-larks specialize in life on the fringes of deserts, in relatively open, semi-arid habitats.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Black-crowned Sparrow-larks were first spotted by us at Ras Al-Hadd, near the eastern tip of Oman, in May 2010. Later in May 2010 this species was also observed near Sohar, some 200 km West of Muscat.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Near-lateral view of a male Black-crowned Sparrow-lark on the ground
[Sun Farms, Sohar, May 2010]

Lateral view of a male Black-crowned Sparrow-lark
[Sun Farms, Sohar, May 2010]

Lateral view of a male Black-crowned Sparrow-lark, now looking away from the observer
[Sun Farms, Sohar, May 2010]

Lateral/ventral view of a male Black-crowned Sparrow-lark
[Sun Farms, Sohar, May 2010]

Lateral/ventral view of a male Black-crowned Sparrow-lark issuing its call during a display flight above its territory
[Ras Al-Hadd, May 2010]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a male Black-crowned Sparrow-lark dropping a 250-milligram acid bomb...
[Ras Al-Hadd, May 2010]

FEMALE

Lateral/ventral view of a female Black-crowned Sparrow-lark, upper right, and a juvenile male Black-crowned Sparrow-lark
[Sun Farms, Sohar, May 2010]

Dorsal view of a female Black-crowned Sparrow-lark looking backwards, left, with together a juvenile bird on the ground
[Ras Al-Hadd, May 2010]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral/ventral view of a juvenile Black-crowned Sparrow-lark
[Sun Farms, Sohar, May 2010]

Food, Diet

Based on behaviour observed by us it is likely that Black-crowned Sparrow-larks are primarily seed-eaters.

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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sun, 28 May 2023, 22:28 +00:00