Galerida theklae
Silhouette: Gossipguy and T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
Thekla's lark (Galerida theklae), also known as the Thekla lark, is a species of lark that breeds on the Iberian Peninsula and in North and East Africa south to Kenya. It is a sedentary (non-migratory) species. This is a common bird of dry open country, often at some altitude. Thekla's lark was named by Alfred Edmund Brehm in 1857 for his recently deceased sister Thekla Brehm (1833–1857). The name is a modern Greek one, Θέκλα (Thekla), which comes from ancient Greek Θεόκλεια (Theokleia) derived from θεός (theos, "god") and κλέος (kleos, "glory" or "honour"). The population is declining in parts of Spain, but this is a common bird with a very wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Thekla's lark has several East African subspecies that show deep genetic divergence both among themselves and from the Mediterranean populations and are consequently strong candidates for consideration as separate species. Formerly, some authorities considered Thekla's lark and the Malabar lark to be conspecific. Alternate names for Thekla's lark include short-crested lark and Thekla crested... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bale Mountains National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Thekla Lark sighting in Bale Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 175 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 117 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Thekla Lark in Bale Mountains National Park on a given day, against about 40% in February and December, the lowest months. March and September have too few records to rate.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Thekla Lark sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Thekla Lark sightings, Bale Mountains National Park has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Monfragüe National Park (Spain, about 20%) and Doñana National Park (Spain, about 10%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Thekla Lark that you can see in Bale Mountains National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Moorland Chat (about 80%), Abyssinian Siskin (about 70%) and Ethiopian Cisticola (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Thekla Lark is recorded against all the birds logged in Bale Mountains National Park (175 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
