Black-crowned sparrow-lark facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Black-crowned sparrow-lark |
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The black-crowned sparrow-lark (scientific name: Eremopterix nigriceps) is a small bird that belongs to the lark family. You can find these birds across northern Africa, stretching through the Middle East, and all the way to north-western India. They love living in dry savanna areas.
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About the Black-Crowned Sparrow-Lark
This bird has a few other names! People sometimes call it the black-crowned finch lark or the white-crested sparrow-lark.
Different Types of Sparrow-Larks
There are three main types, or subspecies, of the black-crowned sparrow-lark:
- E. n. nigriceps – This type lives on the Cape Verde Islands.
- Saharan black-crowned sparrow-lark (E. n. albifrons) – You can find this one from Mauritania and Senegal to Sudan.
- Eastern black-crowned sparrow-lark (E. n. melanauchen) – This type lives from eastern Sudan to Somalia, Arabia, Socotra Island, southern Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan.
What Do They Look Like?
Male black-crowned sparrow-larks are quite striking! They have a mostly black head with bright white patches on their forehead and cheeks. Their upper body is pale grayish-brown, and their belly and underwings are black. They also have a white patch on the sides of their chest. Their tail is blackish with buff edges.
Female birds look very different. They are pale sandy-brown on their upper parts. They have faint streaks on their head and whitish patches around their eyes and neck. Their underparts are whitish with a light cinnamon band across their chest.
Young birds look similar to the females, but their head feathers have buff tips. These birds are small, about 11.5 to 12.5 centimeters long.
Their Song
The male's song is quite varied. It's usually a short series of simple, sweet notes. They sing while flying in a display or from a low spot like a bush or a rock.
Where Do They Live?
Black-crowned sparrow-larks live across North Africa. Their range goes from the Cape Verde archipelago in the west, through the Sahel region of northern Africa, across the Arabian Peninsula, and into Pakistan and India.
They prefer dry, flat areas with scattered low plants and clumps of grass. They especially like sandy places more than rocky ones. You might also see them near salt pans.
How Do They Behave?
These birds have clever ways to deal with the heat. During the hottest part of the day, they stay in the shade to avoid losing too much water. They've even been seen hiding inside the burrows of large lizards! They also try to cool down by flying with their legs dangling. This exposes their bare skin to the air. Sometimes, they perch facing the wind with their wings drooped to catch more air.
Outside of the breeding season, they often gather in groups of up to 50 birds to find food. Very large groups of several thousand birds have also been seen!
Raising Their Young
Male black-crowned sparrow-larks perform special aerial dances to attract a mate. They fly steeply up from the ground, then circle and call, before diving down in a series of shallow dips. Sometimes, both the male and female will display together, with the male chasing the female in a twisting flight close to the ground.
They usually breed during the summer months. Breeding often starts after it rains, so it can happen almost any time the conditions are good.
The nest is a shallow dip in the ground. It's lined with plants and other soft materials. The edge of the nest is often marked with small stones or clumps of earth. Nests are usually built under a shrub or a grass tuft to provide some shade.
Both parents take turns sitting on the 2 to 3 eggs. This incubation lasts for about 11 to 12 days. The chicks start to leave the nest when they are around six days old, even before they can fly well. They typically leave the nest completely when they are about eight days old.
Soon after the chicks leave the nest, they separate. Each adult then takes care of one chick. This behavior might help reduce the risk of predators catching all the young birds. If there are more than two chicks, the extra ones often don't survive. The chicks can fly properly when they are about 21 or 22 days old. They become ready to have their own chicks when they are about a year old.
What Do They Eat?
Black-crowned sparrow-larks mainly eat seeds. However, they also enjoy eating insects and other small creatures without backbones. When the young chicks are in the nest, they are mostly fed insects.
Because their environment is so hot, these birds do most of their foraging (looking for food) in the early morning and evening. They usually find their food on the ground. Sometimes, they catch flying insects right out of the air!
