BIRD 4

White outer tail feathers Oh no, yet another pipit, you may be thinking. But there is something about that relatively small head which suggests a larger, almost thrush-sized bird. Those wings look long and the bird in general looks to have a robust, almost chunky, weighty build. This bird has the structure of a lark. We have two breeding lark species in the UK: the Sky Lark and the scarce Wood Lark, both of which perform song flights. The latter is notably short-tailed and has relatively short, rounded wings. But this bird has long wings and a long, full tail for a lark. Crucially, it also has white outer tail feathers, and you can just make out a white trailing edge to the inner flight feathers, both of which rule out Wood Lark (which has white tail tips) . This is a Sky Lark.

KEY FEATURES †Head looks ‘small’ implying a decent-sized bird †Long, broad wings †Dense band of fine streaks across breast †Full, broad tail with white outer feathers