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Mar 2020
3:10pm, 26 Mar 2020
1,935 posts
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um
Another bird id ?
Running (me, not the bird) across ploughed fields, spring crop just breaking through - reasonable sized birds (quite a few in the field, but not grouped together) will suddenly individually fly up to 30/40 ft or so and hover/flutter and start singing. Probably starling size, but lightish brown underside, darker brown top side.
Tried to record song, but failed miserably. Yet to find confident id from my books.
Any suggestions welcome - or thing I should look out for next time to help identify?
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Mar 2020
3:13pm, 26 Mar 2020
2,679 posts
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J2R
Sure they weren't skylarks, um? That sounds larky to me, and they're a decent size (i.e., substantially larger than chaffinches or house sparrows, say).
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Mar 2020
3:14pm, 26 Mar 2020
17,231 posts
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Angus Clydesdale
Sounds exactly like skylarks to me.
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Mar 2020
3:17pm, 26 Mar 2020
17,778 posts
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KinkyS
Look out for white outer tail feathers in flight - helps to id skylark 
Is the song a very rapid, high-pitched trill, with a continuous stream of unbroken notes that sound random with no discernible pattern or repetition?
Behaviour sounds very skylark-y...
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Mar 2020
3:18pm, 26 Mar 2020
1,937 posts
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um
That was my first thought J2R, but I didn't find where they flew up when startled or disturbed. Most descriptions seemed to imply they mainly lived on the wing?
But otherwise yes, description does match.
Or was I just misreading / looking at the wrong books / webs ?
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Mar 2020
3:22pm, 26 Mar 2020
17,779 posts
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KinkyS
Skylark are very much ground birds not just sky birds They might give the impression of being mostly in the air but that's because they can be so hard to spot on the ground!
We have literally hundreds of them to trip over on the moors at the moment
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Mar 2020
3:28pm, 26 Mar 2020
1,938 posts
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um
OK thanks - will try to spot outer tail feathers next time. Certainly high pitched and lots of notes, and I didn't catch a 'tune' - so probably means 'no discernible pattern/recognition'.
Looking fairly high probability of being a skylark! (now I know all about test sensitivity and specificity from other threads)
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Mar 2020
5:43pm, 26 Mar 2020
2,899 posts
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jacdaw
I think the reason that most descriptions are of skylarks flying is because that is when yo see them most. They do a fair bit of skulking on the ground, but you do see them on fence posts etc.
They are definitely most unmistakeable when doing their trademark fly up so high they almost disappear while doing distinctive singing thing.
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Mar 2020
5:59pm, 26 Mar 2020
38,984 posts
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Derby Tup
Bigger and more ‘pointy’ looking than mipits is how I think of them
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Mar 2020
6:16pm, 26 Mar 2020
2,680 posts
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J2R
Yes, meadow pipits are the things you're most likely to confuse them with, as they're both striated predominantly brown birds which do a display flight while singing. Meadow pipits are smaller, though, don't have the range of song and have a characteristic parachuting descent, which apparently impresses the lady pipits (pipettes?).
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