Vertebrate prey of a Fawn-coloured Lark <i>Calendulauda africanoides</i>

Abstract

The larks (Alaudidae) are a predominantly Old World family of passerines that inhabit open ground, often in arid or semi-arid regions. There is a lack of basic natural history knowledge for a number of lark species and the diet of the majority of species is simply described as insectivorous, granivorous or mixed. Detailed knowledge of their diet is only known for a handful of species (de Juana et al. 2004). Despite a wide range of invertebrate prey species being recorded in lark diets, feeding on vertebrates is rare. I present the first observation of a Fawn-coloured Lark Calendulauda africanoides predating a vertebrate; constituting the third lark species to prey on vertebrates.