Bengal Bushlark
Plocealauda assamica
Small, stocky brown terrestrial bird with a relatively short tail. Note stout bill with slightly downcurved upper edge; also streaky back, speckled chest, buffy-pale underparts, and rufous panel in the wing. May be confused with other bushlarks with which it overlaps in range; averages darker, with less contrast between upperparts and underparts. Inhabits open plains and fields, sometimes with scattered shrubs and bushes. Gives buzzy repetitive song in flight, on the ground, or from a perch.
Identification
The Bengal bush lark is short-tailed and has a strong stout bill. It is not as long as the skylark, measuring about 15 centimetres in length. It is dark-streaked grey above, and buff below, with spotting on the breast and behind the eye. The wings are rufous.<p>The song of the Bengal bush lark is a repetition of thin disyllabic notes, delivered in a song-flight.
Taxonomy
The differences within the genus Mirafra are often very subtle and confusing with many differences apparent only when specimens are examined in hand.<p>The Bengal bush lark was earlier classified into several races, the Bengal race assamica and the Madras race affinis. These were subsequently split, on the basis of diagnostic song and display characters, into the Jerdon's bush lark (Mirafra affinis) and assamica in the strict sense. Formerly, both the Burmese bush lark and Jerdon's bush lark were considered subspecies of the Bengal bush lark (as M. a. microptera and M. a. affinis respectively) until split to form a separate species. The alternate name "rufous-winged bush lark" may also be used to describe the red-winged lark. Another alternate name for the Bengal bush lark is the rufous-winged lark.
- Scientific name
- Plocealauda assamica
- Authority
- Horsfield, 1840
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Plocealauda
Range and habitat
The Bengal bush lark is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia, and found in the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 100,000-1,000,000 square kilometres.<p>The Bengal bush lark is a common bird of dry, open, stony country often with sparse shrubs, and cultivated areas.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
It nests on the ground, laying three or four speckled eggs. This lark feeds primarily on seeds and insects, especially the latter during the breeding season.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-fronted White-eye
Zosterops minor
A small bird of foothill and lower montane forest. Olive-green back, yellow throat and under the base of the tail, whitish belly and white eye-ring. Races vary, some with a green face and thin eye-ring, others with black face and a broad eye-ring. Moves in flocks in the canopy. Very similar to New Guinea White-eye, but Black-fronted usually has black around the face and yellow throat more demarcated from its white underparts. Voice, a typical, white-eye warbling song and a descending “piuu” call.
Lanceolated Monklet
Micromonacha lanceolata
Small puffbird, always rare in the middle levels of lowland and foothill forest. Typical puffbird shape: rotund with a large flat head and thick hooked bill. Brown above and white below with heavy blackish streaking. Unlikely to be mistaken. Easy to overlook as it perches quietly, often around a clearing or edge within forest. Usually single or in pairs, occasionally associating with a mixed-species flock. Listen for rising whistled calls.
Masked Laughingthrush
Pterorhinus perspicillatus
A rowdy and sociable inhabitant of gardens, parks, and shrubby thickets, this long-tailed, black-eared bird is unmistakable. Upper body is dark gray overall, with brown primarily on the belly but also with some in the wings. Vent area is a dirty rufous color, often seen as the bird intermittently pumps its tail while foraging. Bold, often foraging out in the open on lawns and field edges, but even when hidden, its harsh chattering will give it away.
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