Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark

The black-crowned sparrow-lark (Eremopterix nigriceps) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found across northern Africa from Mauritania through the Middle East to north-western India. Its natural habitat is dry savanna. The adult males has a bold pied head pattern with a mainly blackhead with contrasting white forehead and white cheek patches. The upperparts are pale greyish brown with black underparts and underwings which contrast with a white patch at the sides of the breast. The tail is blackish with buff edges and grey central feathers, The bill is horn coloured. The females are very different being pale sandy brown on the upperparts with faint streaking on the crown and whitish patches around the eye and on the sides of the neck. The female's underparts are whitish with a pale cinnamon breast band and black underwing coverts, The juveniles are similar to the fameals but the feathers on the head are tipped with buff. The bird is 11.5–12.5 cm in length from bill to tail. The male's song is quite variable, typically consisting of a short series of simple, sweet notes, either sung in the flight display or from a low vantage point in a bush or on a rock.