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The Lesser Short-toed Lark is a little bird with pale typical on Larks plumage color. It resembles the Greater Short-toed Lark slightly larger with short bulbous bill. The outer tail feathers are white. It is distinguished from Greater Short-toed Lark by the faint or no patches on breast-side; and by the distinctly streaked breast and craw. It's necessary to notice that these features are not so striking; it's need to watch birds from the short distance. Contact features: as on Greater Short-toed Lark it has very short first primary; the claw of rear toe is short, not longer than toe. In difference from Greater Short-toed Lark the tertails are short, the ending 10-15 mm short of wing tips. Both sexes are similar; the seasonal differences of plumage are insignificant. Juveniles in first plumage are well distinguished from adults by the doubled feather's tips formed by the dark and pale terminal bands. After the summer molting juveniles became same the adults. Weight 20-30 grams, length 15-18, wing 8,7-10,5, wingspan 28-34 cm.

Distribution

The species is distributed in desert, semi-desert, steppe territories from Western Europe and North Africa to Eastern China. Migratory species of birds. The main wintering areas are in North Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. In Belarus, it was first recorded on 08.11.2020 in the Novogrudok district of the Grodno region (1 individual).

Biology

Very rare vagrant in Belarus. This species favors open land with shrubs and grasses, and with a high percentage of bare ground. In the Mediterranean basin it selects areas with average shrub height of 50 cm and bare ground c. 60% and it often prefers saltmarshes with glasswort (Salicornia) in the winter.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005.
В.К.Рябицев. "Птицы Урала, Приуралья и Западной Сибири". Екатеринбург, Изд-во Уральского университета, 2000.
BirdLife International (2021) Species factsheet: Alaudala rufescens. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 03/09/2021.