Bar-tailed Lark Ammomanes cinctura Scientific name definitions

14 cm; 14–23 g. Small, neat, rather plain lark with relatively small and rounded head , short bill  , long primary projection (about half length of tertials), relatively long outer primary (1 mm less to 5 mm more than primary coverts), rather short and slender tarsus; hind claw short (5·3–6·8 mm), slightly curved. Nominate race is mostly tawny rufous above  , faint buffish supercilium ; flight-­feathers  and tail orange-rufous, broad blackish tips of primaries (contrast with tertials when wings folded), well-demarcated black terminal tailband; pale whitish-buff below, breast washed orange; bill sandy pink; legs sandy horn to pale brown. Sexes alike. Juvenile is similar to adult, but black on tail and primaries less defined (sometimes lacking on primaries), outer primary broader-tipped and longer (extends 6–9 mm beyond tips of primary coverts). Race arenicolor  is paler than nominate, more sandy  pinkish, black on tail and primaries less extensive; zarudnyi is much greyer above, less white below, with broader black tailband.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Most desert-adapted lark of Palearctic. Inhabits mainly deserts with less than 100 mm annual rainfall, also semi-deserts, in flat or gently undulating terrain, stone or sandy soils, and very sparse or almost no vegetation cover. In W part of Sahara prefers stone-clay regs (gravel plains with mixed sandy areas) with grasses, and small depressions in the terrain; common in semi-arid savanna. Generally lowlands; may reach 1700 m in Pakistan after breeding season.

Resident; dispersive winter movements in search of less arid areas recorded in N Africa, especially during drought periods; nomadic over short distances in Middle East and Arabian Peninsula. Occasional longer dispersal indicated by records of vagrants, mainly in spring, in Canary Is, Spain (Mediterranean coasts including Mallorca I), Italy (both peninsula and Sicily), Malta and Cyprus.

Seeds, to lesser extent other plant material, and insects. In Cape Verde Is mostly small seeds and grasshoppers (Acrididae); in Western Sahara during breeding season small seeds (mainly of Aizoon) and insects; in Algeria seeds. Diet of chicks insects. Forages  on ground; in small flocks when not breeding. Searches ground, walks and runs sequentially; also digs for items.

Male song , often in aerial display, short whistles  , “see-oo-lee” or “cher-ho-hee”, first notes lower in pitch and often audible only at short distance, the last one high, pure and squeaky; repeated rhythmically at intervals of c. 1·5 seconds. Calls include dry, purring “prrit” or “cherr” and thin, descending “peeyu” or “see-oo”.

Season determined by rainfall; lays Jan–Apr in N Africa, Sept–Jun in Cape Verde Is, depending on dry period; mostly mid-Mar to mid-Apr in Middle East; some pairs double-brooded. Male song flight steeply undulating, notes uttered in phase with undulations, flightpath meandering but roughly circular, ending with steep descent to ground. Nest built by female, unknown if male helps, a shallow depression on ground beneath a rock or beside a stone, lined with some vegetation, rampart of small pebbles, interior diameter 7–8 cm, oriented to N. Clutch 2–4 eggs, rarely 5 (mode 2 in Cape Verde Is, 3 in Algeria and Tunisia); incubation by both sexes, 12–14 days; chicks cared for and fed by both parents, leave nest at c. 11 days, fledging 13–15 days.

Not globally threatened. Abundance varies widely within rather large but fragmented range. In Cape Verde Is abundant on Sal, Boavista  and Maio, rare on Fogo; in Mauritania local in N and widespread and fairly common in S; common in S Morocco and S Tunisia ; abundant in sublittoral zone of Western Sahara  , becoming progressively scarce inland; in Libya widespread in Tripolitania and common in Cyrenaica; locally common in Egypt; frequent in WC Mali and in N Niger (Ténéré); fairly common in N Sudan. Fairly common in parts of Israel, mainly W Negev and Arava Valley, estimated total for whole country in 1980s 400–500 pairs, but declining; widely distributed but uncommon in Jordan (commonest lark in hammada areas of Azraq); widespread and often common in Saudi Arabia, where common to very common in C deserts and Gulf area); locally common and widespread in S Baluchistan. Elsewhere, only few records from Syria, scarce and irregular in Kuwait (first confirmed breeding 1996), and recorded in Abu Dhabi (1992); reported from S Turkey (but records possibly relate to A. deserti) and once from N Yemen.