Fun Malabar Lark Facts For Kids
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The Malabar lark (Galerida malabarica) is a medium-sized bird with a long spiky erectile crest. It belongs to the order Passeriformes, family Alaudidae and genus Galerida. They have a rufous-brown plumage with small black beady eyes.
It is quite a common bird of open country and is 6.2 in (16 cm) in length. Along with stony grasslands, they inhabit dry cultivation and scrub often.
They are endemic to Southwestern India, and their range is from the southwestern to the eastern parts of Gujarat. They feed on seeds and small insects, the latter, especially during their breeding season. Females are smaller than males, and their chicks bear feathers with white spots at the tips and appear to be somewhat scaly.
The Malabar crested lark is a monotypic bird and usually prefers sedentary breeding. The breeding season of Malabar lark takes place in most seasons except in the months of June and July.
Males are territorial in nature and attract their mates by flying slowly in a circular motion with their tails spread slightly apart. Females build their nests on the ground and lay about two to three eggs.
If you liked reading this article, then do check out these lark sparrow and lark bird facts.
Malabar Lark Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a Malabar lark?
The Malabar lark is a bird of the order Passeriformes, family Alaudidae and genus Galerida.
What class of animal does a Malabar lark belong to?
The Malabar crested lark (Galerida malabarica) belongs to the class Aves.
How many Malabar larks are there in the world?
The crested lark (Galerida malabarica) is a monotypic bird and hence, does not have any subspecies.
Where does a Malabar lark live?
The Malabar lark habitat includes western India. This lark is a common bird of open country and particularly ranges from the southwestern to eastern parts of Gujarat. There are many other species of lark birds found in western India.
What is a Malabar lark's habitat?
The Malabar crested lark inhabits agricultural lands or cultivation and scrub often, along with stony grasslands. They prefer dry forest areas and grass-covered rocky hillsides as well. Females build their nests on the ground.
Who do Malabar larks live with?
The Malabar lark or Malabar crested lark is solitary in nature but seen in pairs during their sedentary breeding season. They are also spotted often at some altitude in flocks of 30 during their non-breeding season.
How long does a Malabar lark live?
The exact life span of Malabar lark (Galerida malabarica) is not known. However, these larks belonging to the Alaudidae family are known to have an average lifespan range of three to five years.
The old skylark (Alauda arvensis), another common bird of open country, is known to live for about eight years, while the eastern meadowlark can live for ten years.
How do they reproduce?
Malabar lark (Galerida malabarica) reproduces by laying two to three eggs. The breeding season of the lark takes place mostly in all months.
Males display flight often at some altitude and sing melodiously in order to attract females. Apart from singing, the males flutter their short wings and long spiky erectile crest. The male Malabar lark also engages in duels with other larks to keep them away from their mates.
Females are known to build their nests on the ground. Their nests are small and cup-shaped and are generally made up of animal fur, dried leaves, and grass and are found mostly in cultivation and scrub often.
They feed on seeds and insects, the latter especially during their breeding season, in order to gain protein. Their breeding season lasts for up to ten days.
The Malabar lark is highly territorial in nature when it comes to defending its nests and is a solitary breeder. Both parents take turns in feeding their chicks and usually feed them insects.
The parent Malabar lark also provides shade to their young ones from the scorching dry heat of the xerophytic habitat and continues to care for up to 20 days until they fledge. The checks usually fledge much before they are able to fly.
What is their conservation status?
The IUCN Red List has listed the Malabar Lark (Galerida malabarica) as a species of Least Concern. However, the increased human activities of destruction and mass forest clearings can impose a threat to the Malabar lark and other common birds of the open country.
Malabar Lark Fun Facts
What do Malabar larks look like?
The Malabar lark or Malabar crested lark has a rufous brownish plumage with small dark and beady eyes. They have a beautiful crest that possesses white stripes.
They have a medium-sized body with a short tail and nests on the ground. The tip of the tail of Malabar lark bears whitish striations. Their bill is dark and short.
The Malabar lark is spotted in dry cultivation and scrub often and displays a fascinating flight often at some altitude while singing melodiously. It is a common bird of the open country.
How cute are they?
The Malabar lark is extremely cute because of its medium-sized body and soft singing capability.
How do they communicate?
The crested lark (Galerida) communicates through soft chirps. They warn other birds by chirping and whistling constantly. The male Malabar lark attracts their mates by flying often at some altitude in a circular pattern. The lark is well known for its melodious singing and is capable of mimicking other animals.
How big is a Malabar lark?
The Malabar lark is about 6.2 in (16 cm) in length and is bigger than the Sykes lark, which is about 5.5 in (14 cm).
How fast can a Malabar lark fly?
Malabar lark is sedentary in nature. Though their exact flying speed is unknown, they are known to fly while singing and can hover up to a range of around 984 ft (300 m) in altitude that usually lasts for an hour.
How much does a Malabar lark weigh?
The exact weight of Malabar lark is unknown. The other species of lark of the Alaudidae family generally weigh in the range of 0.03-0.16 lb (0.015-0.075 kg).
What are the male and female names of the species?
There are no specific names given to the male and female lark species.
What would you call a baby Malabar lark?
The baby Malabar lark is called a chick.
What do they eat?
They eat seeds and insects.
Are they dangerous?
They are not at all dangerous and do not pose any threat to humans.
Would they make a good pet?
Larks were traditionally made pets by the Chinese because of their ability to sing and mimic other animals. So, they can make good pets.
Did you know...
Malabar larks are similar to different species of larks, like the crested lark and the Tawny lark. Instead of hopping, these larks are capable of running on the ground due to their light body weight and strong legs. They also have a well-developed hearing perception, due to which they can locate insects buried in the ground.
How many types of larks are there?
There are about 91 species of lark in the world, including the desert lark and the magpie lark.
Are they endemic?
The Malabar larks prefer dry cultivated and scrublands and are endemic to western India.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these horned lark facts and western meadowlark facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable bird coloring pages.
The main image is owned by Vedant Raju Kasambe.
The second image is owned by Swardeepak.
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