Eurasian Skylark

Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) is a streaked grey-brown lark with a small crest, pale belly and white outer tail feathers. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits open farmland, grassland and heath across the Palearctic, feeding on seeds and insects and nesting on the ground; males deliver long complex songs while hovering high above their territories. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).