White-winged Lark
Alauda leucoptera
Handsome lark with flashing white wing patches. Note streaky gray-brown back, white underparts, and warm rufous shoulder; male also has distinct red cap and ear coverts. Forages in large flocks outside of the breeding season. Favors wide expansive dry steppelands and fields; occasionally encountered in agricultural areas. Song is a jumble of trills, chirps, harsh rasps, and twittering notes.
Identification
This lark with flashing white wing patches is large and robust, usually 17–19 cm in length, with a wingspan of 35 cm. Both sexes weigh about 44 g. In flight, it is unmistakable due to its striking wing pattern: black outer flight feathers, white inner flight feathers, and the rest of the wing chestnut. Its body is dark-streaked grey above and whitish below. The adult male has a chestnut crown, but the sexes are otherwise similar.<p>Its song is a more melodious version of the Eurasian skylark's.
Taxonomy
The current genus name is from the Latin for lark. The specific leucoptera means "white-winged", from leukos, "white", and pteron, "wing". Formerly, the white-winged lark was classified as belonging to the genus Melanocorypha until moved to Alauda in 2014.
- Scientific name
- Alauda leucoptera
- Authority
- Pallas, 1811
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Alauda
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The white-winged lark lives in dry, open steppe and plains. It nests on the ground, laying three to eight eggs per clutch. Its diet consists of seeds, and insects during the breeding season. It is gregarious during the winter.<p>Habitat destruction due to ploughing is one of the main threats to the white-winged lark.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo
Calyptorhynchus banksii
Large black cockatoo with tall rounded crest. Mostly black plumage with red or orange panels on the tail. Female has yellow spots and barring on the chest. Plumage and bill size vary according to subspecies. Often feeds on the ground. Typically occurs in groups or large flocks. Note loud calls from large noisy flocks.

Middle American Screech-Owl
Megascops guatemalae
Small, cryptically patterned, yellow-eyed owl of tropical lowland forest from Mexico to Panama. Tends to stay well hidden in the understory. Cannot be identified readily by sight, but it is the only screech-owl throughout most of its range and within its habitat. Song is a purring trill that can easily be mistaken for the purring of a toad or insect. Plumage varies from grayish brown overall to reddish.

Mrs. Moreau's Warbler
Scepomycter winifredae
An unusual warbler with a restricted range in the central Tanzanian mountains. Mostly gray, darker on the back, with a rich rufous head and breast. Females are duller. A shy and skulking bird of the understory of montane forest. Usually found in pairs. Somewhat similar to African Tailorbird and Chapin’s Apalis, but chunkier, with more extensive rufous on the head and breast. Normally detected by voice: the male sings a well-spaced series of long, pure whistles, sometimes accompanied in a duet by the female, who gives lower whistles in simple patterns.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.