Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark

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.

The black-crowned sparrow-lark occurs across North Africa, from the Cape Verde archipelago east through the Sahel of northern Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula and into Pakistan and India. The black-crowned sparrow-lark occurs in arid and semi-arid plains with scattered low vegetation and tussocks of grass, preferring sandy areas over areas with rocky soil, it has also been observed around salt pans.

In the heat of midday, these birds reduce water loss by staying in the shade, and it has even been recorded sheltering within the burrows of large lizards. It will also attempt to regulate its body temperature by flying with the legs dangling below it to expose the bare skin, or by perching facing into the wind, with the wings drooped to increase its surface area which is exposed to the moving air. Outside of the breeding season, they may form flocks of up to 50 birds which forage together but large flocks of several thousand have been recorded.

Breeding. The male black-crowned sparrow-lark performs aerial displays over the breeding territory, in which he climbs steeply up from the ground prior to circling and calling, before falling in a series of shallow dives. Sometimes both male and female will display together, the male pursuing the female in a twisting, low flight. They normally breed during the summer months, and breeding is often triggered by rain and so can take place at almost any time when conditions are favourable. The nestis a shallow depression which is lined with plant and other material, with the rim often marked out with small stones or small clods of earth. The nest is usually situated beneath a shrub or a grass tuft so that some shade is provided. Both sexes incubate the clutch of 2 to 3 eggs, for around 11 to 12 days. …