Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark

The ashy-crowned sparrow-lark is a small, sparrow-sized lark of open plains with bare ground, grass and scrub across South Asia, restricted to below about 1,000 m. Males have a contrasting black-and-white face pattern, a sandy-brown body, a black belly, chin and eye stripe and an ashy crown, while females are sandy brown and look much like a female sparrow but with shorter legs (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is usually seen sitting on the ground and does not perch in trees or bushes. Males are easy to detect in the breeding season by a long descending whistle that goes with their undulating, dive-bombing display flights. The Sri Lankan form, ceylonensis, was named but variation is clinal, so the species is treated as monotypic. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).