Eurasian Skylark

The Eurasian Skylark is a medium-sized bird (17.5 to 19 cm in length, with the male being the largest). It has a neutral plumage, without any outstanding features and often cryptic with the ground it moves on as it is a terrestrial bird. The upperparts are brown and the underside is notably paler. The mantle is chamois, streaked with dark brown. The coverts, remiges and central rectrices are brown and bordered with chamois. The wings are long with a long primary projection. The crown, neck and upper chest are light chamois and finely streaked with brown. The crown feathers are erect and can become a short crest when the bird is excited. The dark eye is surrounded by a white ring with brown edgings. This blends in with the whitish eyebrow, lores and white-cream sideburns or chamois. The earcoverts, bordered with chamois, often have a russet hue. The throat is white. A faint malar stripe in brown is noticeable. The bill is straight, quite long and straw-coloured or horn-coloured. The male's bill is more powerful than the female's, whose plumage is similar. The tail is tricoloured. The central rectrices are medium brown, the following pairs are some dark brown and the outermost one is distinctly white. This can be seen when the bird is flying and singing and when the male spreads the tail; it's also a good opportunity to see a light line formed by the white edging of the inner primaries and secondaries under the wings. The parts below the chest from the throat onwards are white. The upper flanks are reddish brown and lightly streaked with brown, as is the breast band. The legs are pink or rosé. The juvenile can be distinguished from the adult by its new scaly plumage. The feathers present a subterminal brown edging and a wide creamy chamois terminal edging.It is particularly evident in the wing covers and tertial remiges. The head seems to be speckled with white. 15 subspecies are described. They differ from each other only in details of plumage and measurements that are unnecessary to specify here.