Buffy Laughingthrush

A small, compact, finch-like sociable lark that can be both resident and nomadic, although movements are poorly understood. The sexes differ in plumage: the distinctive male has a tawny crown and nape, bold pale ear-patches, and otherwise dark face and throat that stretch as a line down the belly to the vent; the dull streaky female has a buffy eyebrow and a dark breast and belly patch. Immature is similar to the female. Small-to-medium-size flocks prefer semi-arid grassland and bare fields. Compare to Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, in which both sexes are darker and more contrasting than Fischer’s Sparrow-Lark.

Slender brown and buff bird with a streaked breast found in short grassland, pastures, and sparsely vegetated plains. White outer tail feathers are most evident in flight. Similar to several other pipits; some field marks to look for include its relative plain back lacking thick stripes, faint eyebrow, thin whisker mark, and whitish (not buff) belly. Voice is often the best ID feature. Song, often given in flight, consists of a short rasp followed by a quick series of melodious chirps. Usually stays on the ground, but occasionally flies up to an exposed perch such as a post or mound. Note that birds of the high Andes are now considered a different species, Puna Pipit.

Compact, robust, and big-headed warbler. Males are striking with a black hood contrasting with whitish throat, gray back, and red eyering. Females duller with a gray hood, white throat, and buff body. Common in many typical Mediterranean habitats including tall bushes, open woodlands, gardens, coastal scrub, and plantations; also in oases, acacia woodlands, and scrubby desert in non-breeding range. Usually first detected by its song, a fast, angry-sounding rattling "ctret-tret-tret-tret-tret" or "tetwtweer-tik-tik-tik" with whispering in between. The call is a dry "tseck."