Megalurus cruralis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The brown songlark (Cincloramphus cruralis), also Australian songlark, is a small passerine bird found throughout much of Australia. A member of the family Locustellidae, this species is notable for sexual size dimorphism, among the most pronounced in any bird. It is a moderate-sized bird of nondescript plumage; the female brownish above and paler below, the larger male a darker brown.
The brown songlark was described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield as Megalurus cruralis in 1827. John Gould placed it in the genus Cincloramphus in 1843, describing it as C. cantatoris. However, the specific name of the former authors took priority. Along with most Old-World Warblers, this species was formerly placed in Sylviidae sensu lato, but molecular phylogenetic studies demonstrated that this broad grouping is not a cohesive evolutionary lineage and warbler species were assigned to various families.
An alternative generic name Cinclorhamphus is derived from Greek words cinclus/κιγκλος "wagtail" and ramphos/ραμφος "beak" and cruralis from the Latin root crur- "leg, shin". Male brown songlarks are 23–25 cm long versus 18–19 cm for females and may weigh... Wikipedia →
Recording0:08
Australia · 2025
© Andrew Wallace · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:19
Australia · 2026
© jacky_centralcoast · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:15
Australia · 2021
© Mango parker · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Songlark sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 93 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 173rd most-seen of the 236 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Songlark in Melbourne on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown Songlark sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Melbourne, in our data
Melbourne is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Brown Songlark sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown Songlark is recorded against all the birds logged in Melbourne (93 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
