Thick-billed Lark Rhamphocoris clotbey

A true desert nomad, Thick-billed Lark is or has been the personal nemesis for many an Israeli birder. A bird that's almost impossible to chase, and yet a bird that can be amazingly confiding if found by chance in some remote desert wadi. Like many desert birds they are generally tolerant of people as these images portray.

There were just seventeen national records of this species up the publication of the Birds of Israel in 1996, however a major invasion to the Sayyarim area on the Southern Negev plateau eventually led to the first breeding record in the country in 1999. Since then, Thick-billed Larks have been occasional and dispersive visitors to the Southern Negev.

Spring 2003 seems to be another great year for Thick-billed Larks. From the 1st to the 15th of March, I've personally managed to observe nine different flocks containing between three and twenty-four individual birds. A number of friends have also caught with this species for the first time, so let's hope that this spring will produce more sightings of this truly enigmatic lark.

Good birding,

James Smith & The Birdingisrael Team