Some observation notes on the Short-toed lark Calandrella brachydactyla

Abstract

Various parental anti-predator strategies are described for the Short-toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla in Cramp (1988). Feigning injury to lure a snake away has also been noted. A different type of anti-predator strategy was noted on 8 July 1989 at is-Sanab, Gozo. The author was in a photography hide which was about 3m away from a nest of the Short-toed Lark which contained three young. These were nearly fully fledged so much so that one of them was leaving the nest to meet the parents each time these visited the nest with food. Then, all of a sudden, the regular visits by the parents stopped and after about 8 minutes the young started calling for food. Looking out from a side hole in the hide, a Western Whipsnake Coluber viridiflavus was seen moving along the field about 4 metres away from the nest. The female was also there walking briskly with head held high on a stretched neck looking intently at the snake and walking alongside it about a metre away. They moved together in a seemingly parallel way until the snake was about 20m away from the nest, when the aduIt bird flew up. A few minutes later it was back feeding the young.