Sand Lark

The sand lark is a small lark of southern Asia, 12 or 13 cm long, somewhat like but smaller than the short-toed larks. All subspecies are dull brownish grey with faintly streaked upperparts and look distinctly short-tailed with a fine bill; bill length varies geographically, short and stubby in the west and long and fine-tipped in the east. The lores, eyebrow, area under the eye and entire underside are white. The subspecies krishnakumarsinhji around Bhavnagar, Gujarat, is greyer above with broad dark streaks, and adamsi of West Asia and parts of north-west India is paler (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is usually found singly, in pairs or in small loose groups, foraging in sudden zigzag spurts on sandy banks near water for insects and seeds. The breeding season is February to May, with usually three greyish-white eggs speckled brown. The song is varied, of rattling and tinkling notes high in the air followed by dry rattling and whistled notes while descending. SoIB 2023 rates it a Moderate conservation priority, a resident of open habitat with a Moderate range of about 204,000 km² and a decline of about 50% over the long term (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).