Abstract
Despite its prevalence across bird taxa, avian vocal mimicry remains a poorly studied field of animal behaviour. In order to advance our understanding of the function of avian vocal mimicry, the field requires that the range of vocal mimicry in birds is described. The Tawny Lark (or Sykes's Lark, Galerida deva) is endemic to central and western India. Recent work on other Galerida larks has found that the mimetic vocalisations match the biodiversity of their acoustic environment, thereby conferring a significant novel function in study of individual mimetic variation linked to biodiversity. Here, we provide a detailed account of the variety of mimetic sounds produced by the Tawny Lark. We also describe acoustic and peer-based analyses that gauge the accuracy of the mimicry. By providing a detailed description of mimicry, we provide a basis for future study of the function of mimicry in this species.
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