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Melanocorypha leucoptera
– Least Concern
Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
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ANIMALIA
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Phylum:
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CHORDATA
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Class:
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AVES
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Order:
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PASSERIFORMES
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Family:
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ALAUDIDAE
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Scientific Name:
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Melanocorypha leucoptera
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Species Authority:
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(Pallas, 1811)
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Common Name/s:
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| English | — | WHITE-WINGED LARK |
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Assessment Information
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Red List Category & Criteria:
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LC ver 3.1 (2001)
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Year Assessed:
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2006
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Assessor/s:
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BirdLife International
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Evaluator/s:
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Burfield, I., Butchart, S., Pilgrim, J. (BirdLife International Red List Authority)
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History:
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| 1988 | - | Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004) |
| 1994 | - | Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004) |
| 2000 | - | Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2000) |
| 2004 | - | Least Concern (BirdLife International 2004) |
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Geographic Range
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Range Description:
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This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km². It breeds in the steppe belt that extends east from the Volga River through Kazakhstan to Mongolia, but winters more widely in the steppe region to the north and west of the Black Sea, with Europe holding more than 50% of the global wintering range. It has a large global population, including an estimated 20,000-65,000 breeding pairs in Europe, in south-eastern European Russia, which accounts for only a small part of its global breeding range1. Interpretation of the limited available information on population trends is complicated by large interannual fluctuations in distribution5. The European population was stable during 1970-19906 and fluctuated by 30-50% during 1990-20001. In neither period was sufficient information available to assess the species's population trends using wintering data. In parts of the Kostanay region (northern Kazakhstan), where the species was once widespread and numerous, its distribution and abundance have decreased noticeably over the past 25 years3. It may still be more common than Black Lark M. yeltoniensis in this area, but it seems to have undergone an even greater decline than its congener, and reports suggest that this situation may be mirrored across Kazakhstan2. However, in other areas of north-central Kazakhstan, the species was relatively common in 2005, especially in the shorter steppe vegetation4, and also remains common in wormwood semi-deserts to the east of the Lower Volga5. In summary, in Kazakhstan, the species appears to have a relatively stable population and is common in suitable habitats (although not dispersed evenly, with empty areas)7. In wintering areas in Uzbekistan, numbers are weather-dependent, but generally stable7. Overall, the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
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Countries:
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Native:
Azerbaijan; China; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Kazakhstan; Mongolia; Russian Federation; Slovakia; Ukraine; Uzbekistan
Vagrant:
Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Finland; Germany; Greece; Italy; Malta; Poland; Romania; Serbia; Switzerland; Turkey; United Kingdom
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Habitat and Ecology
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