Jerdon's bush lark
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Mirafra affinis

Jerdon's bush lark (Mirafra affinis ) or Jerdon's lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found in south Asia. This was formerly considered as a subspecies of Mirafra assamica and termed as the Madras bushlark. Two other species in the complex include Mirafra marionae and Mirafra microptera. Jerdon's bush lark is typically very pale on the underside

Appearance

Jerdon's bush lark has arrowhead-like spots pointing upwards on the breast. It is very similar to the Indian bush lark (M. erythroptera ) but has buffy lores, less white behind ear coverts, darker center to wing coverts and central tail feathers. Dark centers of primary coverts are prominent, and wing panels are duller and rufous. In the southern Western Ghats, the race ceylonensis is darker and more rufous on the underside and has a longer bill. Jerdon's bush lark has paler, greyish-brown underparts.

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The song of the Jerdon's bush lark is a dry rattle given from its perch.

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Distribution

Geography

Continents
Biogeographical realms

Jerdon's bush lark has a large range in south-east India and Sri Lanka, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 100,000-1,000,000 square kilometers.

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It has proven adaptable to a variety of open habitats up to a maximum elevation of 1500 m. Some of these are forest perimeters, rocky scrubland, scrubby hill meadows and clearings in open-type forests, shrub-edged unused croplands, and thickets of bamboo.

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Jerdon's bush lark habitat map
Jerdon's bush lark habitat map
Jerdon's bush lark
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Habits and Lifestyle

Its song-flight is similar to that of the Indian bush lark, However, unlike the aforementioned species, Jerdon's bush lark often perches on trees and wires.

Lifestyle
Seasonal behavior
Bird's call

Diet and Nutrition

Population

References

1. Jerdon's bush lark Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerdon's_bush_lark
2. Jerdon's bush lark on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22732442/95047275
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/647403

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