Malabar Lark

The Malabar lark, or Malabar crested lark, is a lark found in western India. It has a long spiky erectile crest and is smaller and dark-streaked reddish-brown, whereas the crested lark, which breeds in northern India, is grey. It is greyer than the skylark, and lacks the skylark's white wing and tail edges. Sykes's lark is another Indian relative with reddish-brown plumage, but it is smaller, shorter-billed, with a stiff upright crest and plain rufous underparts (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a sedentary breeding bird that nests on the ground, laying two or three eggs. Its food is seeds and insects. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to mainland India and rates it a Moderate conservation priority, with a Moderate range of about 157,000 km², a rapid long-term decline of about 62% and an inconclusive current trend (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).