ML615054554

Age and sex

Unknown age, Unknown sex - 7

Behaviors

Vocalizing

Observation details

Saw and photographed 7 distinct looking individuals who were foraging together in a small flock near a water body. They are being regularly seen since almost a month now by the local guides Ramzaan & Kamruddin. My first sighting was on 14th Jan 2024, followed by 4th Feb 2024. These birds stay in a close group in the same area even in the afternoon. Late evening we had earlier seen them also mingle with a large flock of around 40-60 odd Greater Short-toed Larks. Compared to Greater Short-toed larks these 7 individuals clearly have bolder streakings with warmer brown, rusty tinge on the breast and underparts. Broader darker streaks on mantle, back and scapulars, rufous-tinged crown which is faintly streaked with a buff supercilium. Slightly longer winged and thicker billed than Greater Short-toed Lark. Also the breast and flanks are rufous-buff with well defined dark patches on breast side. All these id features are clearly visible in the attached images from various angles which were clicked for better identification. Also recorded take off calls of the birds today for which the WAV files are attached. Calls matching with similar take off calls from India on Xeno Canto. Id references taken from research article "Mongolian Short-toed Lark - Calandrella Dukhunensis - an overlooked East Asian Species published in Journal of Ornithology (2021) 162:165-177 by Per Alstom. The spectrogram is clearly matching with the other calls recorded in India which have been confirmed on ebird. Also matching with Per Alstom's above research article - References Fig - 7 type E note of 2 arrowheads on top of each other. Also matching with note in Fig 7 - type K at around 0.07 seconds of the call.

Technical information

Model

NIKON Z 9

Lens

NIKKOR Z 600mm f/6.3 VR S

ISO

110

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

2450 pixels x 1434 pixels

Original file size

665.36 KB