Alternate Adult male is gray overall with rufous shoulders, half moon-shaped black breast patch, stubby black bill, white throat, white supercilium, and whitish face. Basic Adult male and Alternate Adult female are grayish-brown, with streaky brown back, limited rufous in wing coverts, plain brown underparts, light-colored bill, and diffuse head pattern. Immatures are very drab and resemble a bleached out female House Sparrow; note cold grayish plumage, unstreaked underparts, pale throat and supercilium, and relatively thick, pinkish bill. In all plumages, tail is white with black tip and center stripe, best seen in flight.

Length: 15 (cm) Wingspan: 28 (cm)

Voice:

Song is a series of warbled phrases in quick succession; call is a rich, liquid, two- or three-part rattle.

Habitat:

Plains, short-grass prairies, agricultural fields, dry lakebeds, barren ground.

Behavior:

Inconspicuous; often disappears in short grass clumps as it feeds on ground, typically discovered when flushed or by its 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 bare dirt, pecking at a variety of seeds, grains, and insects.