Bird watching in Africa - Blanford's Lark or Blanford's Short-toed Lark, Calandrella blanfordi, Erlanger’s lark, Calandrella blanfordi erlangeri, Erlanger's Red-capped Lark, Erlanger's Short-toed Lark, Ethiopian Short-toed Lark

Blanford's Lark or Blanford's Short-toed Lark (Calandrella blanfordi) is a small passerine bird of the lark family, Alaudidae, which is native to north-east Africa. Its common name commemorates the English zoologist William Thomas Blanford.

Habitat and movements
They occur on open stony plains, often with bushes. In Arabia, it breeds between 1800 and 2500 metres above sea-level with some birds dispersing to lower ground in winter. The species is often seen in flocks outside the breeding season.

Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net

www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there

Taxonomy and systematics
Blanford's lark was formerly included in either the greater short-toed lark (C. brachydactyla) or the red-capped lark (C. cinerea) but is now commonly treated as a separate species. Alternate names for Blanford's lark include Blandford's lark, Blandford's short-toed lark and Blanford's red-capped lark.[3]

Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized:

• C. b. blanfordi - (Shelley, 1902): Found in northern Eritrea

• C. b. erlangeri - Erlanger's lark- (Neumann, 1906): Found in Ethiopia

Description
Blanford's lark is 14–15 centimetres long. The upperparts are pale sandy-brown with some darker streaking and the crown is rufous. The underparts are pale and plain apart from a small dark patch on the side of the neck made up of vertical streaks. The greater short-toed lark is similar but has a greyer, more-streaked crown.

Erlanger's and red-capped larks have darker upperparts with more streaking and a darker rufous crown. Erlanger's lark has larger dark neck-patches while in red-capped lark the patches are rufous.

Blanford's lark has a sparrow-like flight-call. The song is given in a circular song-flight and includes a mixture of chew-chew-chew-chew notes and fluid phrases.

Length:

14 - 15 cm

Wingspan:

Weight:

Longevity:

Distinctive Feature

•

Similar Species

•

From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.

Listen to the Blanford's Lark

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2017: e.T103766090A112872569. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T103766090A112872569.en.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.birdforum.net

Sighted: (Date of first photo that I could use) 25 October 2019
Location: On the road between Debre Birhan and Lemi, Ethiopia

Blanford's Lark or Blanford's Short-toed Lark, Calandrella blanfordi, Erlanger’s lark, Calandrella blanfordi erlangeri, Erlanger's Red-capped Lark, Erlanger's Short-toed Lark, Ethiopian Short-toed Lark

Blanford's Lark - 25 October 2019 - On the road between Debre Birhan and Lemi, Ethiopia

Subspecies Erlanger’s lark

Blanford's Lark - 25 October 2019 - On the road between Debre Birhan and Lemi, Ethiopia

Subspecies Erlanger’s lark

Blanford's Lark - 25 October 2019 - On the road between Debre Birhan and Lemi, Ethiopia

Subspecies Erlanger’s lark

Blanford's Lark - 25 October 2019 - On the road between Debre Birhan and Lemi, Ethiopia

Subspecies Erlanger’s lark

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