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Brown Songlark

Did you know?

Male Brown Songlarks engage in 'song flights'; singing continuously as they fly up above their territories.

Calls
The male Brown Songlark is the singer. The continuous song is musical and metallic, produced from perches and when rising steeply above breeding territory, then fluttering in slow downward display flights between trees, ending with a whip-crack sound.
Facts and Figures
Research Species: 
No
Minimum Size: 
18cm
Maximum Size: 
25cm
Average size: 
21cm
Breeding season: 
September to February in the south; at any time after good rain in the north and centre.
Clutch Size: 
3 to 4 eggs
Incubation: 
12 days
Conservation Status
Federal: 
Secure
NSW: 
Secure
NT: 
Secure
QLD: 
Secure
SA: 
Secure
TAS: 
Not present
VIC: 
Secure
WA: 
Secure
Basic Information
Scientific Name: 
Cincloramphus cruralis
Atlas Number: 
508
What does it look like?
Description: 

The Brown Songlark is remarkable for the male being much larger (23-25 cm) than the female (18-19 cm). In breeding plumage the male is dark cinnamon-brown with black bill and black eyes. Otherwise the male and female both have a dusky brown back, pale brownish-white underparts, with the centre of the belly dark brown. The Brown Songlark is also known as the Australian Songlark.

Similar species: 

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The female Brown Songlark could be mistaken for the Rufous Songlark, female White-winged Triller, Skylark, or Richard's Pipit. Brown Songlarks are much larger than the Rufous Songlark and lack the rufous rump.

Where does it live?
Distribution: 

The Brown Songlark is found all over mainland Australia except for parts of the far north. It is more abundant in the south, but numbers fluctuate locally depending on rainfall.

Habitat: 

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The Brown Songlark is found in open country, including pastures, short crops, and grassy scrub.

Seasonal movements: 

The Brown Songlark is very nomadic, moving from drought-affected areas to areas of recent rainfall.

What does it do?
Feeding: 

The Brown Songlark feeds on seeds and insects.

Breeding: 

<p>The nest of the Brown Songlark is in a small depression in the ground, often in a clump of grass or other cover. The female incubates the eggs and rears the young.</p>

Living with us

Like the Rufous Songlark, the Brown Songlark includes farm paddocks in its territory. Birds are occasionally killed by vehicles on roads.

References: 
Birds of Australia: Photographic Field Guide
Field guide to Australian Birds.
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, Volume 7 (Dunnock to Starlings) Part B
The Wrens and Warblers of Australia.
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