General

Sky Lark: Medium-sized lark (pekinensis), with dark-streaked, brown upperparts and white underparts with streaks on breast and sides. Head has indistinct crest and white eyebrows. Tail is dark with white edges. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Sky Lark: Common in Hawaii; accidental during winter on Pacific coast to northern California. Siberian race occurs rarely during migration on Aleutians. Preferred habitats include farmlands, moors, salt marsh, heaths, upland pastures, and industrial waste grounds.

Breeding and Nesting

Sky Lark: Three to seven light gray eggs with brown or olive blotches are laid in a nest lined with roots, grass, and hair, and built on the ground in an open field. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Sky Lark: Eats mostly seeds and insects; forages while walking or running on the ground.

Vocalization

Sky Lark: Song is loud and continuous, and most often sung while rising vertically into the air. Call is gurgling, bubbly "cherrup."

Similar Species

Sky Lark: Horned Lark has white spots and streaks on upperparts, and lacks white trailing edge on secondaries. American Pipit has gray upperparts, buff underparts with brown streaks, and lacks crest and white secondary tips.