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Certhilauda curvirostris (Cape Long-billed lark)
[= Mirafra curvirostris]
Langbeklewerik [Afrikaans];
Weskuslangbeklewerik [Afrikaans]; Langsnavelleeuwerik [Dutch]; Alouette à
long bec [French]; Langschnabellerche [German]; Cotovia-de-bico-comprido
[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 South Africa, occurring from the extreme
south of Namibia through to the western side of the Northern and Western Cape
(to just north of Cape Town). It generally prefers coastal scrub, such as
sandplain fynbos, strandveld, renosterveld and dunes with sparse vegetation. It
is more scarce in the cereal fields of the Western Cape, and it may even occupy
roadsides.
Food
Its diets is little known, however like many larks it is
thought to consist mainly of insects and seeds. It does most of its foraging on
open ground, searching the bases of plants and digging to expose food items.
Breeding
- The nest is a cup (sometimes with a dome) built of dry grass, lined with
fine rootlets and shrub leaves and typically placed on the ground against a
grass tuft, shrub or stone.
- It lays about 3 eggs, usually in the months from August-October.
Threats
Not threatened.
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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