White-winged Lark

Alauda leucoptera

Handsome lark with flashing white wing patches. Note streaky gray-brown back, white underparts, and warm rufous shoulder; male also has distinct red cap and ear coverts. Forages in large flocks outside of the breeding season. Favors wide expansive dry steppelands and fields; occasionally encountered in agricultural areas. Song is a jumble of trills, chirps, harsh rasps, and twittering notes.

Identification

This lark with flashing white wing patches is large and robust, usually 17–19 cm in length, with a wingspan of 35 cm. Both sexes weigh about 44 g. In flight, it is unmistakable due to its striking wing pattern: black outer flight feathers, white inner flight feathers, and the rest of the wing chestnut. Its body is dark-streaked grey above and whitish below. The adult male has a chestnut crown, but the sexes are otherwise similar.<p>Its song is a more melodious version of the Eurasian skylark's.

Taxonomy

The current genus name is from the Latin for lark. The specific leucoptera means "white-winged", from leukos, "white", and pteron, "wing". Formerly, the white-winged lark was classified as belonging to the genus Melanocorypha until moved to Alauda in 2014.

Scientific name
Alauda leucoptera
Authority
Pallas, 1811
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Alaudidae
Genus
Alauda

Range and habitat

Migration
Complete migrants

Behavior

The white-winged lark lives in dry, open steppe and plains. It nests on the ground, laying three to eight eggs per clutch. Its diet consists of seeds, and insects during the breeding season. It is gregarious during the winter.<p>Habitat destruction due to ploughing is one of the main threats to the white-winged lark.

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

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