Indochinese Bushlark Mirafra erythrocephala Scientific name definitions

c. 15 cm. Heavy-bodied lark with large bill, short tail and wings, rather long legs. Has whitish supercilium  , pale buffish-brown ear-coverts with fairly distinct streaking and quite distinct dark eyestripe and rear border, usually a thin whitish band across upper nape; rather dark greyish-brown or brown-grey above, crown usually more rufous-tinged  , crown  , mantle  and scapulars rather heavily streaked; wings dark grey-brown or blackish-brown, upperwing-coverts  and tertials with buffish or rufous-buffish tips and edges, broad rufous edges of primaries forming prominent patch (most noticeable in flight); tail dark grey-brown with indistinct rufous-tinged outer edges, widest on outermost rectrix; underparts  dingy buffish, breast heavily dark-spotted; upper mandible  mostly dark grey, lower mandible  mostly pinkish; legs pinkish. Distinguished from very similar M. microptera by darker, greyer, less distinctly streaked upperparts, slightly darker and dingier underparts, whiter supercilium, less buffish and more distinctly streaked ear-coverts, and whitish nuchal band. Sexes alike in plumage, female on average smaller. Juvenile  differs mainly in having more extensive and more distinct dark centres and narrow pale tips on crown, mantle and scapulars.

S Myanmar (Tenasserim), Thailand (except most of peninsula and extreme SE), Cambodia, S & C Laos and S Vietnam.

Various open, dry areas with scattered trees and bushes, including cultivation, also forest edge with plentiful scrub, bamboo thickets and trees; to 900 m. Often flies to nearby tree perch when flushed.

Nothing known of diet; probably similar to that of M. assamica and other close relatives.

Song quick series of thin, clear, mostly drawn-out notes, arranged in strophes of c. 2–8 seconds in duration, given from ground or, more often, from elevated perch , sometimes in flight. Calls a high-pitched  , metallic “tirrrrrr­rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr” rattle, also short series of thin, high-pitched, highly variable whistles, often combined with the rattle.