Bengal bush lark

Bengal bush lark
	At Joka in Kolkata.
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Alaudidae
Genus:	Mirafra
Species:	M. assamica
Binomial name
	Mirafra assamica; (Horsfield, 1840)

The Bengal bush lark or rufous-winged bush lark (Mirafra assamica) is a small passerine bird.

Description

It is short-tailed and has a strong stout bill. It is not as long as the skylark, measuring about 15 centimetres. (See below for more.)

Range and population

It is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 100,000-1,000,000 square kilometres.^[1]

Habits and habitat

The Bengal bush lark is a common bird of dry, open, stony country often with sparse shrubbery, and cultivated areas. 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.

Taxonomic changes

The differences within the genus Mirafra are often very subtle and confusing with many differences apparent only when specimens are examined in hand.

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. Mirafra (assamica) assamica is dark-streaked grey above, and buff below, with spotting on the breast and behind the eye. The wings are rufous. Jerdon's bush lark has paler, greyish-brown underparts. The song of Jerdon's bush lark is a dry rattle given from its perch, while that of M. (a.) assamica is a repetition of thin disyllabic notes, delivered in a song-flight.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Template:IUCN
^ Alström, Per (1998). "Taxonomy of the Mirafra assamica complex" (PDF). Forktail. 13: 97–107 . Retrieved May 1, 2009.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)