Oriental Skylark
Alauda gulgula
Yenkathala Grasslands & Grasslands across India
Telangana is the eleventh largest state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of 112,077 km² of which 21,214 km² is forest cover. The dry deciduous forests ecoregion of the central Deccan Plateau covers much of the state, including Hyderabad. The characteristic vegetation is woodlands of the Anjan tree or Indian Blackwood (Hardwickia binata) and the Nallaregu (నల్లరేగు) tree (Albizia amara). Over 80% of the original forest cover has been cleared for agriculture, timber harvesting, or cattle grazing, but large blocks of forest can be found in the Kawal Tiger Reserve, Nagarjuna Sagar - Srisailam Tiger Reserve and elsewhere. The more humid Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests cover the Eastern Ghats in the eastern part of the state. The Central Deccan forests have an upper canopy at 15–25 meters, and an understory at 10–15 meters, with little undergrowth.
The dry sub-humid zone or Dichanthium-cenchrus-lasitrrus type of grasslands are prevalent here and cover almost the entirety of peninsular India except the Nilgiris. One sees thorny bushes like the Acacia catechu or Khair as it is known in Hindi, Mimosa, Zizyphus (Ber) and sometimes the fleshy Euphorbia, along with low trees of Anogeissus letifolia or Axle Wood, Soymida febrifuga - the Indian Redwood - and other deciduous species. Sehima (grass) which is more prevalent on gravel is about 27% of the cover and Dichanthium (grass) which flourishes on level soil is almost 80% of the coverage.
Grasslands are natural carbon sinks and therefore crucial to the global carbon cycle due to their high rates of productivity, enhanced carbon sequestration rates and geographical extent keeping global temperatures more or less in balance. They are also breeding grounds for many migratory and endangered species like the Indian Grey Wolf of which only about 3,000 are left in the wild. It is a common response from people to think forests when green cover is mentioned but grasslands are of equal import. These open natural ecosystems urgently need attention and government initiatives for protection and conservation. In Telangana, grasslands are located in the districts of Vikarabad, Nizamabad, Khammam, Siddipet and Nalgonda. The wildlife in these fragile ecosystems today face numerous threats like hunting, spread of the canine distemper virus which affects foxes, wolves & several other species, rabies from feral dogs and most crucially, habitat loss.
The bird today, the Oriental Skylark - came out late in the evening in extremely low light but very close - is from one such spectacular grasslands about 60 kilometres from the capital city of Hyderabad - the Yenkathala Grasslands, also called the Ramnathgudpalle Grasslands. These grasslands are home to as many as 191 bird species which include migrants like the Pallid & Montagu’s Harriers who winter here from Russia and Eastern Asian countries traveling over 5,000 kilometers. The rare Indian Grey Wolf has also been spotted here along with a number of foxes and many other species.
The winter weather in Telangana is cold with a mild sun and as the sun rises these grasslands are bathed in a golden hue. The long stalks of grass sway dreamily in the cold, soaking up the sun and a peaceful silence reigns. Slowly the faint, but interminable chirping of birds permeates and breaks the silence with a not so strong wind unobtrusively rustling through the long grass. Butterflies start to flutter, dainty and somewhat ethereal, dragonflies & damselflies hover, fiercely red & floating with intent. These are the base of the pyramid that sustains the cycle of life on these grasslands.
Oriental Skylark
The Oriental Skylark (Alauda gulgula), also known as the Small Skylark, is a species of skylark found in the Sino-Indian region and parts of central Asia. Like other skylarks, it is found in open grassland where it feeds on seeds and insects. It is a chunky brown songbird with a weak crest, typically found on the ground in open fields and meadows. It is darker above than below, with fine black streaking on the chest and light chestnut ear coverts with a dark border. It is very similar to the Eurasian Skylark, with which it shares much of its range, but the Oriental Skylark has buffy, not white, outer tail edges and trailing edge of wing. The breeding males “skylark,” singing a series of variable notes while hovering high above the territory.
It is known by many vernacular names for example in Hindi it is called the Bharat and Chandul, in Tibetan it is known as Cho-mo and Nam-che, in Gujarati it is called the Jal agan and the Bharath chandul, in Telugu it is called the Bharata pitta, Nela picuka and Bharadwaj pakshi.
The Oriental Skylark was described by the English soldier and naturalist James Franklin in 1831 and given the binomial name Alauda gulgula. Alauda being the Celtic name for lark meaning Great singer derived from al –great; aud –song and Gulgula is the Punjabi word for globular. Other alternate names for the Oriental Skylark include Eastern Skylark, the Indian Skylark and Lesser Skylark.
It is a small lark with medium-long wings and a thin beak and a rather short tail, short primary projection & a small erectile crest. It is about 15-16 cm long and weighs between 24-30 grams. The nominate race has fairly distinct buffish supercilium. The crown and upperparts are a warm rufous-buff with heavily streaked blackish-brown. The wings are blackish-brown or dark grey-brown, upperwing-coverts and tertials have buff tips and edges. The remiges have narrow rufous edges; tail is blackish-brown, central feather pair with brownish edges, outermost pair light rufous-buff; light rufous-buff below, deepest on breast, blackish streaks on breast extending variably to flanks. The bill is pale pinkish with dark grey culmen; legs pale pinkish. Both the sexes are alike in plumage, the female on average is smaller and the juveniles have well-defined white feather stripes and dark subterminal bands above, very similar to the juvenile Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis).
Thirteen subspecies are recognized:
The Kashmir Skylark (Alauda gulgula lhamarum) or the Kashmir Small Skylark (Meinertzhagen, R & Meinertzhagen, A, 1926) - Found in the Pamir Mountains and western Himalayas
Alauda gulgula inopinata (Bianchi, 1905) - Found on the Tibetan Plateau and north-western China
Alauda gulgula vernayi (Mayr, 1941) - Found in the eastern Himalayas and south-western China
The Western Oriental skylark (Alauda gulgula inconspicua) or Turkestan small skylark (Severtsov, 1873) - Originally described as a separate species. Found from southern Kazakhstan to eastern Iran, Pakistan and north-western India
Alauda gulgula gulgula (Franklin, 1831) - Found from north-central India to Sri Lanka and east to northern Indochina
Alauda gulgula dharmakumarsinhjii (Abdulali, 1976) - Found in west-central India
Alauda gulgula australis (Brooks, WE, 1873) - Originally described as a separate species. Found in south-western India
Alauda gulgula weigoldi (Hartert, 1922) - Found in central and eastern China
Alauda gulgula coelivox (R. Swinhoe, 1859) - Originally described as a separate species. Found in southern and south-eastern China, northern Vietnam
Alauda gulgula sala (R. Swinhoe, 1870) - Originally described as a separate species. Found on Hainan Island (off south-eastern China)
Alauda gulgula herberti (Hartert, 1923) - Found from central and eastern Thailand to southern Vietnam
Alauda gulgula wattersi (R. Swinhoe, 1871) - Originally described as a separate species. Found in Taiwan
Alauda gulgula wolfei (Hachisuka, 1930) - Found on Luzon (northern Philippines)
Recently my friend - Sriram Reddy - created an identification document to identify the resident larks of Telangana. It is an excellent and handy work for anyone keen on identifying these birds in the field. With his co-operation I have shared it here.
This lark breeds across the Sino-Indian region and parts of central Asia wintering in the southern parts of its range. It is usually found in open areas with short vegetation, such as grasslands, marshes, the edges of lakes, etc. It feeds on seeds and insects. It avoids forested areas, though it may be found in large forest clearings, lowlands and middle elevations. It is also found in saline coastal marshes and mudflats, dry edges of lakes, rivers and paddy fields, and semi-desert. It is found up to 4300 m.
The Oriental Skylark is sedentary in most of its distribution area but it can perform some local movements, for example, altitudinal. The Lhamarum subspecies and mainly migratory inconspicua Central Asian populations, leave the breeding areas between September and early October, returning in late March to mid-April or even, in the case of the previous subspecies, in early May. The wintering areas are uncertain. Partially migratory unopiced subspecies, it is known to appear in winter in, for example, Nepal, Bhutan, northern Bangladesh, northeastern India and northern Myanmar. Rare but regular wintering in some places in Israel and Arabia. Accidental in other parts of Arabia, in northeastern Egypt (Sinai, several records) and in Iraq.
It eats seeds and insects. Nestlings observed to be fed with moths and caterpillars and with insect larvae. It will Ingest grit for digestion. It forages on ground, singly, in pairs or in loose flocks. They breed between Mar–Aug in India. The mating display by the male is a song flight at great height, hovering with quivering wing beats for long periods, tail closed throughout. The nest is a cup of grass, lined with finer grass, hair or rootlets, in depression on ground, generally sheltered by tuft of grass or mound of earth. They lay a clutch of 2–5 eggs; incubation done by female alone. The incubation period is 10–11 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and leave the nest at 10 days from hatching The fledge period is 14-15 days. These skylarks frequently rocket up into the sky, fluttering and singing before descending down to earth. Male Oriental skylarks may also hover in the air and sing, in order to attract a mate.
It is not globally threatened. Common in most of its distribution area, locally abundant; rare in the Philippines and locally in Southeast Asia. It has probably decreased substantially in much of central, southern, southeastern and east China, presumably as a result of the disappearance of suitable habitats.
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