Brown Songlark

The Brown Songlark (Cincloramphus cruralis) with its distinctive song is found across much of Australia, although less common across some agricultural and open grassland areas.

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The male and female Brown Songlark are different in size and plumage, with the male being a rich chocolate brown colour (sometimes described as cinnamon-colour during breeding season), whilst the female is described as being drabber in colour. They have a pale eyebrow and are a largish songbird with a long tail and long legs. The males have greyish brown edged feathers above and a dark grey belly, breast and face, especially when in breeding plumage.

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The female has a characteristic black belly patch.

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The male displays a distinctive flight, when it climbs high in the air and then parachutes down with wings held up at an angle and with their legs held dangling, whilst also singing a discordant, metallic sounding song, as it drops into the grass.,

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The cup-shaped nest is built into the ground amongst dense grass, built and tended solely by the female.

Common name
Brown Songlark, Australian Songlark, Black-breasted Lark, Black-breasted Song Lark, Harvest bird, Brown Singing-lark, Singing Lark.

Images © Dorothy L

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• Scientific classification
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Passeriformes
• Family: Locustellidae
• Genus: Cincloramphus
• Species: C. cruralis
• Binomial name: Cincloramphus cruralis
• Synonyms: Megalurus cruralis

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Footnote & References

1. Brown songlark, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_songlark (last visited June 4, 2021).
2. Brown Songlark, eBird, https://ebird.org/species/broson1
3. Brown Songlark, M. Dahlem, https://mdahlem.net/birds/26/brnslark.php

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