Alternate adult male has black belly, pale yellow face and throat, bright reddish nape, black crown and eyeline, tiny black bill, streaky brown and black back, and brownish wings and tail. Basic adult male and alternate adult female are brown overall, with faint red nape, dark spots on auriculars, pale throat, light brown underparts with occasional black spots, and cryptic brown back and wings. Immatures are very drab; note warm brown overall plumage, faint streaks on breast, dark spots on auriculars, tiny grayish bill, and relatively short primary projection. In all plumages, tail is white on outer edges with black triangle, best seen in flight.

Length: 15 (cm) Wingspan: 27 (cm)

Voice:

Song is a high, twittering, warbled phrase; call is a soft, two- or three-part rattle, best described as keedle, keedle, keedle.

Habitat:

Plains, dense grass, short-grass prairies, agricultural fields.

Behavior:

Inconspicuous; feeds on ground, often discovered when flushed with rattling flight call. Spring males perform flight displays, singing high above the ground. Nest is a woven cup of grasses on the ground among standing vegetation. In winter, forms large flocks, sometimes with other longspurs and larks.

Feeding:

Forages on ground among sparse vegetation or dense grasses, pecking at a variety of seeds, grains, and insects.