Crested Lark
Galerida cristata
Medium sized lark with a prominent crest. Separated from the more range-restricted Thekla's Lark by longer bill with straight lower mandible and usually longer and spikier crest. Lots of variation in plumage color, which matches local soil types, but usually grayer and darker than Eurasian Skylark. Short tail and rust-tinged underwings obvious in flight. Found in dry areas with scarce vegetation, especially agricultural land and at roadsides. Song is an often magnificently long and highly impressive series of varied jumbled twitters, trills, warbles, and slurred notes. Often gives a plaintive “ch’wee.”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Galerida cristata
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Galerida
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Scarlet-naped Myzomela
Myzomela lafargei
Mostly yellowish with a black head, back, tail, and shoulders. Wing feathers fringed with yellow. Red cap is variable. Female is plainly dull yellow. Found in most forested or scrubby habitats. Similar to Olive-backed Sunbird, but female is duller yellow, and male has a black head and back. Voice includes a sweet, high-pitched “tsip-tsip.”
Australian Pratincole
Glareola isabella
Elegant long-winged shorebird equally at home in flight and on the ground. In flight note very long pointed wings with black tips and a square tail. When perched note red bill; lacks the facial mask of Oriental Pratincole. Typically occurs on dry grasslands (including airports, paddocks, ephemeral wetlands, and in the middle of roads) across inland Australia.
White-eared Night Heron
Oroanassa magnifica
Rare and elusive night-heron with a bug-eyed, almost “alien,” appearance. Highly localized, seldom encountered far from its nesting colonies and roost sites. Black above with gray streaking on the chest and a clean white-and-orange head pattern, though this can be hard to see in poor lighting. Forages quietly in well-shaded forest streams, but most reliably seen in its small breeding colonies, usually hidden deep in a stand of bamboo or evergreen trees.
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