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Certhilauda benguelensis (Benguela Long-billed lark)
Kaokolangbeklewerik [Afrikaans]; Alouette de Benguela [French];
Cotovia-de-bico-comprido do Agulhas [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Passeriformes
> Family: Alaudidae > Genus: Certhilauda
Distribution and habitat
Near endemic to southern Africa, as it only occurs from
north-western Namibia to south-western Angola. It generally prefers arid and
semi-arid grassland and dwarf shrubland, especially with a stony substrate.
Food
It eats invertebrates (such as
beetles) and
seeds, doing its foraging on the ground surface, digging to expose food items or
gleaning prey from the bases of plants.
Breeding
- The nest is cup built of dry grass and the leaves of shrubs, typically
placed in a scrape in the ground at the base of a plant.
- It lays 2-3 eggs, usually in the months from April-May (although there
are only three records of laying dates)
Threats
Not threatened, as much of its distribution is contained
within protected areas.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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