Greater Hoopoe-lark (Alaemon alaudipes)

Other Names (World)
Greater Hoopoe-Lark, Hoopoe Lark, Bifasciated Lark, Large Desert Lark

Family
Alaudidae (Larks)

Size
19 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Desfontaines, 1789)

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland dry shrubland, hot desert. Also, subtropical and tropical lowland dry grassland. From sea-level - 2,000 m.

Range (Guide)

Afghanistan (B) (NB), Algeria, Bahrain (B) (NB), Cape Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B), Iraq (B) (NB), Israel (B), Jordan (B) (NB), Kuwait (B), Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman (B), Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (B), Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic (B), Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara (B), Yemen (B).

Vagrant to Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Spain, Turkey.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Spectacular display flight: bird climbs steeply, then suddenly descends, giving a series of piping notes and trills.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (53)...)

Greater Hoopoe-Lark (Alaemon alaudipes) [XC890374]
by Sven Normant from Tisserdmine, Errachidia Province, Dr\u00e2a-Tafilalet, Morocco (song)

Greater Hoopoe-Lark (Alaemon alaudipes) [XC544153]
by Jelle Scharringa from Kutch, Gujarat, United Arab Emirates (song)

Subspecies
Affinities uncertain. May form a superspecies with Lesser Hoopoe-lark (Alaemon hamertoni). Nominate subspecies and doriae intergrade in Middle East.

The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

boavistae Hartert, 1917 - Cape Verde Is (Boavista, Maio).
alaudipes (Desfontaines, 1789) - Sahara Desert (from southern Morocco south to Mauritania, northern and central Mali, central Niger, central and eastern Chad and northern Sudan) east to Syria, Jordan and northern Arabia.
desertorum (Stanley, 1814) - Red Sea coasts from southern Sudan (Port Sudan) south to north-western Somalia, and from central Saudi Arabia (Jiddah) south to southern Yemen (Aden).
doriae (Salvadori, 1868) - Iraq and eastern Arabia east to Pakistan and adjacent extreme north-western India.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Greater Hoopoe-lark (Alaemon alaudipes) - 10 files

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