Brown Lark. The brown songlark, also Australian songlark, is a small passerine bird found throughout much of Australia.
A member of the family Locustellidae, this species is notable for sexual size dimorphism, among the most pronounced in any bird. It is a moderate-sized bird of nondescript plumage; the female brownish above and paler below, the larger male a darker brown.
The brown songlark was described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield as Megalurus cruralis in 1827. John Gould placed it in the genus Cincloramphus in 1843, describing it as C. cantatoris.However the specific name of the former authors took priority.
Along with most Old World Warblers, this species was formerly placed in Sylviidae sensu lato, but molecular phylogenetic studies demonstrated that this broad grouping is not a cohesive evolutionary lineage and warbler species were assigned to various families. An alternative generic name Cinclorhamphus is derived from Greek words cinclus / wagtail and ramphos / beak and cruralis from the Latin root crur-leg, shin.
Male brown songlarks are 23-25 cm long versus 18-19 cm for females, and may weigh 2.3 times as much. In general, the birds have a dusky pale-streaked with darker brown plumage with and pale eyebrows. The underparts are brownish-white in the female, darker brown in the male. Breeding males may display a cinnamon-colour. Its eyes and bill are black, and l
A member of the family Locustellidae, this species is notable for sexual size dimorphism, among the most pronounced in any bird. It is a moderate-sized bird of nondescript plumage; the female brownish above and paler below, the larger male a darker brown.
The brown songlark was described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield as Megalurus cruralis in 1827. John Gould placed it in the genus Cincloramphus in 1843, describing it as C. cantatoris.However the specific name of the former authors took priority.
Along with most Old World Warblers, this species was formerly placed in Sylviidae sensu lato, but molecular phylogenetic studies demonstrated that this broad grouping is not a cohesive evolutionary lineage and warbler species were assigned to various families. An alternative generic name Cinclorhamphus is derived from Greek words cinclus / wagtail and ramphos / beak and cruralis from the Latin root crur-leg, shin.
Male brown songlarks are 23-25 cm long versus 18-19 cm for females, and may weigh 2.3 times as much. In general, the birds have a dusky pale-streaked with darker brown plumage with and pale eyebrows. The underparts are brownish-white in the female, darker brown in the male. Breeding males may display a cinnamon-colour. Its eyes and bill are black, and l
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