Stats

Lifespan

5-10 yrs

Size

Large

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Pair

Biome

Desert

Range

North Africa

Movement

Running

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Rare

About

A striking desert lark of North Africa and Arabia with an unmistakably long, downcurved hoopoe-like bill and bold black-and-white wing flashes that dazzle when it bursts into its undulating song-flight. Despite its size, it sprints across open sand on long legs rather than flying.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Alaudidae

Genus

Alaemon

Species

Alaemon alaudipes