Galerida theklae
Galerida theklae
This species has an Iberian–Maghrebian distribution, occupying the western Mediterranean and a portion of eastern Africa in the Horn of Africa (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe it is present only in Spain, Portugal and southern France (Keller et al., 2020; Cobo, 2023). In Spain it occupies the entire Mediterranean region of the peninsula, the Balearic Islands, and Ceuta, but is absent from the Canary Islands. It does not occur in the Atlantic region, nor in adjacent areas such as the southern slopes of the Cantabrian Mountains or the Pyrenees (Cobo in SEO/BirdLife, 2022). The highest densities are found in shrublands and grasslands of the thermo- and meso-Mediterranean belts. In the interior of the peninsula its distribution becomes highly discontinuous, corresponding to areas dominated by woody crops and mixed agricultural mosaics. It is also absent from urbanised areas and forested formations.
In Madrid it is absent from the high mountain zone, as well as from the metropolitan area and surrounding croplands. It occupies open shrublands, dehesas and fallow lands on stony soils, as well as juniper and holm oak woodlands. Unlike the Crested Lark, it is not associated with human presence (Díaz et al., 1994).
In the national park it has only been recorded at two locations: in the surroundings of the Hueco de San Blas and near Hoyo de Manzanares.
The Thekla’s Lark occupies open environments in coastal areas, high plateaus, shrublands and shrub–grass mosaics, where it reaches its highest densities across its range. It also uses woodlands with open structure—such as juniper and savin stands, uncultivated dehesas, garrigue, and heterogeneous tree crops within agricultural mosaics. It avoids dense forest formations, extensive homogeneous croplands, irrigated or flooded agricultural areas, and urbanised environments (Suárez et al., 2009; Laiolo, 2012; Møller & Díaz, 2017; Cobo, 2023). It occurs across a broad altitudinal gradient, from sea level up to 1,500 m commonly, and even up to 2,200 m in Sierra Nevada (Tellería et al., 1999).
In the national park it occupies areas of mixed shrubland with some grasslands, and the surroundings of forested areas—but remaining outside them if the forest canopy is dense.
At a global scale it is considered a Least Concern species (LC; 2024). In Europe it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2021). In Spain it is listed as Least Concern in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not place the species in any threat category.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Cobo, J. 2023. Cogujada Montesina – Galerida theklae. En López, P., Martín, J., Traba, J. (eds.): Enciclopedia Virtual de los Vertebrados Españoles. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Madrid.
Díaz, M., Martí, R., Gómez-Manzaneque, Á. y Sánchez, A. 1994. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en Madrid. Agencia de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Antón, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M. V. Bauer, H. Gr y Foppen, R. P. B. 2020. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Birds Census Council y Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
Laiolo, P. 2013. From inter-specific behavioural interactions to species distribution patterns along gradients of habitat heterogenecity. Oecologia, 171: 207-215.
Møller, A. P. y Díaz M. 2018. Niche segregation, competition and urbanization. Current Zoology, 64: 145-152.
SEO/BirdLife (Molina, B., Nebreda, A., Muñoz, A. R., Seoane, J., Real, R., Bustamante, J. y Del Moral, J. C., eds.). 2022. III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Suárez, F., Hervás, I. y Herranz, J. 2009. Las alondras de España peninsular. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino. Madrid.
Tellería, J.L.; Asensio, B.; Díaz, M. 1999. Aves Ibéricas II. Passeriformes. J. M. Reyero Editor. Madrid.