Ammomanes phoenicura
Silhouette: Gossipguy and T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The rufous-tailed lark (Ammomanes phoenicura), also sometimes called the rufous-tailed finch-lark, is a ground bird found in the drier open stony habitats of India and parts of Pakistan. Like other species in the genus it has a large finch-like bill with a slightly curved edge to the upper mandible. The dull brown colour matches the soil as it forages for grass seeds, grain and insects. Males and females are indistinguishable in the field but during the breeding season, the male has a courtship display that involves flying up steeply and then nose-diving and pulling up in a series of stepped wavy dips accompanied by calling. They forage on the ground in pairs or small groups.
The rufous-tailed lark was originally placed in the genus Mirafra. Alternate names for the rufous-tailed lark include bar-tailed lark, rufous-tailed desert lark, and rufous-tailed finch-lark. Some taxonomists in the past included the bar-tailed lark as a subspecies of the rufous-tailed lark but the two are now generally considered to be separate species. Walter Koelz designated the peninsular Indian population south of a line across India from Hubli to Bellary and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durg | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Indore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Nashik | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Kalyan-Dombivli | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Bhopal | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Jodhpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Pune | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Nagpur | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Lark sighting in Kanha National Park on a given day, based on 126 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 170th most-seen of the 286 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Lark in Kanha National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-tailed Lark sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Rufous-tailed Lark sightings, Kanha National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Satpura National Park (India, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-tailed Lark is recorded against all the birds logged in Kanha National Park (126 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
