Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra)

Other Names (World)
Calandra Lark, European Calandra Lark

Family
Alaudidae (Larks)

Size
19 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Linnaeus, 1766)

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland dry grassland, temperate grassland. From sea-level - 2,000 m.

Range (Guide)

Afghanistan (B), Albania (B), Algeria, Armenia (B), Azerbaijan (B) (NB), Bosnia and Herzegovina (B), Bulgaria (B) (NB) (P), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B) (NB), Cyprus (B) (NB), Egypt, France (B) (NB), Georgia (B), Greece (B) (NB) (P), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B), Iraq (B) (NB), Israel (B), Italy (B) (NB), Jordan (B) (NB) (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kyrgyzstan (B), Lebanon (B), Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (B) (NB), Montenegro (B), Morocco, Palestinian Authority Territories, Portugal (B) (NB), Romania (B) (NB), Russia (European) (B), Saudi Arabia, Serbia (B), Slovenia, Spain (B) (NB), Syrian Arab Republic (B), Tajikistan (B), Tunisia, Turkey (B) (NB), Turkmenistan (B), Ukraine (B), Uzbekistan (B).

Vagrant to Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Kuwait, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Russia (Central Asian), Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom.

Population
Estimated population is 60,000,000 - 300,000,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (342)...)

Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) [XC800534]
by Stanislas Wroza from Arrondissement de Bastia (near Rogliano), Haute-Corse, Corsica, France (flight call)

Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) [XC173851]
by Albert Lastukhin from 16.8 km NW Cabeza del Buey, Extremadura, Spain (song, song in flight)

Subspecies
Geographical variation rather slight, and small clinal increase in size from west to east. Described subspecies dathei (from south-eastern Turkey) considered synonymous with gaza.

The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

calandra (Linnaeus, 1766) - Iberia and southern France east to southern Russia and north-western Kazakhstan, southern (including Mediterranean islands of Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus) to north-western Africa (northern Morocco east to north-western Libya), Turkey (except south-central and south-east), Transcaucasia and north-western Iran.
hebraica Meinertzhagen, R, 1920 - South-central Turkey and adjacent north-western Syria south to Israel, Palestine and western Jordan.
gaza Meinertzhagen, R, 1919 - South-eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Iraq and south-western Iran.
psammochroa Hartert, 1904 - Northern Iraq and northern Iran (Zagros Mts east to Khorasan) east to Turkmenistan and eastern Kazakhstan.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Calandra Lark see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Articles about the Calandra Lark

If you would like to read any articles about the Calandra Lark...

Show Articles (0)

No Pictures of Calandra Lark

If Birdpedia has no pictures of Calandra Lark or you would like to see more, then try the following...

Show External Images from BING

From BING (6)

No Videos of Calandra Lark

If Birdpedia has no videos of Calandra Lark or you would like to see more, then try the following..

Show External Videos

From BING (0)

Where can I observe this species?

Select an area (or leave blank) to see locations where this species has been recorded.

Area

All

Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location.

Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.

Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	GPS help

Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	Find GPS using Google Maps

Distance	Bearing
		Get Sample GPS readings

On What Field Trips was this species observed?

Select an area (or leave blank), and a date range, to see field trips on which this species has been recorded.

Area

All

From	To

Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	GPS help

Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or

Distance	Bearing
		Get Sample GPS readings

Latest Sightings for Calandra Lark