Lark Bunting Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesLark Bunting
Breeding male
Large sparrow with very thick, bluish gray bill. Breeding males are mostly black with a large white patch in the wing and white corners to the tail.
© David De Rivera Tønnessen / Macaulay LibrarySouth Dakota, June 12, 2019Female/immature male
Large sparrow with very thick, bluish gray bill. Females and young birds have thick brown streaking on the breast. They have a pale stripe over the eye and a dark "mustache" stripe with a white throat patch.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, November 19, 2011Female/immature
To separate from other brown, streaky songbirds, note very thick, bluish gray bill and long white patch along the folded wing.
© Benjamin Clock / Macaulay LibraryMontana, June 29, 2011Not all videos have sound
Nonbreeding male
Large, chunky sparrow with thick bill. Nonbreeding males are dark brown and streaky, with the same large white patch in the wing that breeding males have.
© Steve Collins / Macaulay LibraryTexas, January 25, 2010Female/immature male
Large sparrow with thick bill and relatively short tail. Females and immatures are heavily streaked with brown, with white edges to the wing coverts that form a streaky white patch, especially visible in flight.
© Owen Strickland / Macaulay LibraryTexas, March 17, 2018Habitat
Occurs in grasslands, prairies, sagebrush and other shrublands, desert grasslands, and stands of mesquite, hackberry, and willow.
© James Fox / Macaulay LibraryAlberta, June 08, 2017Similar SpeciesChestnut-collared Longspur
Nonbreeding
Nonbreeding Chestnut-collared Longspurs lack the Lark Bunting's white wing edges, which are visible on both nonbreeding males and females. Chestnut-collared also lacks the female Lark Bunting's white-and-black mustache stripe.
© Jacob Drucker / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, November 13, 2016Similar SpeciesThick-billed Longspur
Female
Longspurs have smaller bills than Lark Buntings. Female McCown's Longspurs have a cleaner chest and face than female and nonbreeding male Lark Buntings.
© Andrew Spencer / Macaulay LibraryColorado, April 20, 2012Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
Compare with Similar Species
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Species in This Family
New World Sparrows(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Passerellidae)
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