Rufous-naped Lark

The Rufous-naped Lark is a large, bulky looking lark, with wide wings and a relatively short tail. Its plumage, like most other larks, is cryptic, entirely in shades of cream, browns and tawny. And like other larks of the Mirafra genus, the primary remiges are largely chestnut-colored.
The head pattern is typical. The beak is long and strong, curved in appearance (this effect is due to the curved culmen and commissure) and bicolored, upper jaw generally chestnut brown and lower jaw rosaceous. Viewed from the front, the head appears clear and uniform. This aspect is due to the reddish-cream eyebrows, the lores of the same color, and finally the pale cheeks and ear coverts. This uniformity is accentuated by the white of the throat, but broken by the blackish streaks of the forehead. A short chestnut erectile crest crowns the top of the skull. The chestnut color of this crest, particularly visible when the excited bird exhibits it, especially when singing, can go completely unnoticed when it is flattened on the head, the chestnut then being masked by the black brown of the tip of the feathers forming a hardly streaked dark crown.
On the other hand, the nape is not chestnut as suggested by the bird's name.
The irises are brown, giving the eye a dark appearance.
The upper parts show a combination of browns, creams and chestnuts, with a striped appearance.
The chestnut of the remiges forms an already well visible wing panel on the closed wing. But when the Rufous-naped Lark opens its wings, for example during sequences of singing, the chestnut patches on the wing jump out.
The tail is dark-brown, with the outer rectrices bordered in chestnut.
The underparts are light. Viewed from the front, one can make out a pectoral band made of dark streaks of the same shade as the cap, against a light chestnut shaded background.The belly and flanks are cream to rusty brown in colour, the intensity of the red varying depending on the subspecies. The legs are pinkish or rosy.