Scientific name: Alauda arvensis Linnaeus, 1758
Bird group: Larks
Field characters. 18 cm. Larger than Woodlark. Mainly brown, strongly streaked with black. Rather plain face without any obvious marks, indistinct white supercilium, small crest giving square-headed appearance when not erected. Breast yellowish with fine dark streaks, remainder of underparts white. Bill stronger than in Woodlark, but less so than in Calandra Lark. Tail fairly long with white outer tail feathers. In flight tail fairly long and wings broad; underwings grey, not black as in Calandra Lark. White trailing edge on wing like in latter. Flight undulating with flapping wing beats. During breeding season strongly territorial, in autumn and winter often found in large flocks.
Voice. Clear 'chirrup' or 'chirrp', also 'tsooi'. Song loud, clear and jubilant, can go on for half an hour or more, performed in hovering flight up to considerable heights, sometimes hardly visible from the ground.
Distribution. Common and widespread, but declining in many parts of region.
Habitat. Needs surface covered with low plants. In open fields, meadows, moorlands, etc., often in farmlands. In winter often found on wasteland, saltmarshes, cereal fields, etc.
Food. Insects and seeds. Feeds on the ground.