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Crested Larks are relatively large compared with other Eurasian larks. Their plumage is cryptic. The general colour pattern of their crown, neck and back is grey-brown with grey streaking. The ear coverts, which are also grey-brown, have a narrow off-white margin. Most races have off-white to creamy eye-rings. Their most prominent feature is an erectile crest of the same colours. The front, from the chin down to the undertail coverts, is grey, except for the breast, which is heavily streaked grey. The wing coverts are also grey-brown, with dark-grey central chevrons. The flight feathers are dark-grey with wide grey-brown edges, while the uppertail is grey. The irises are dark. The long, slightly downcurved bill has a grey top and a grey tip of the lower mandible. Otherwise it is horn-coloured. The legs and feet are greyish-pink.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Crested Lark is available HERE .

At present more than 30 different races of Crested Larks are listed, which altogether populate large parts of Europe and Asia. They are present in almost all of northern Africa around the Sahara desert and as far southward as Kenya in the East of the continent. They are also found in all of Europe, except the British Isles and Scandinavia and further eastward, to about the Baltic states and southward to the northern coast of the Black Sea. In addition, they are found in all of Asia Minor, Arabia and mid-latitude and southern Asia, including the Indian subcontinent and as far to the East as Korea and Japan (but not South-east Asia); for details see e.g. Wikipedia.

Crested Larks are well-adapted to life in marginal, in particular semi-arid habitats and they are present basically everywhere in Arabia except the arid quarter.

Race "brachyura"

Race "pallida"

Race "meridionalis"