Malabar lark is very similar to the crested lark, which breeds in northern India. The Malabar lark is smaller and dark-streaked reddish brown in plumage, whereas the crested lark is grey. The belly is white. The sexes are similar. Sykes's lark is another Indian relative that also has reddish-brown plumage, but is smaller, shorter-billed, with a stiff upright crest and has plain rufous underparts. The Malabar lark is found in western India. It is a common bird of open country, cultivation and scrub, often at some altitude. The Malabar lark is a sedentary breeding bird that nests on the ground, laying two
Malabar trevally taking species of polychaete worms as the preferred species. Studies on gill filtering mechanisms has shown the Malabar trevally's anatomy lies between two extremes, one which is a high filtration area characteristic of planktivorous species and the other of very low area which is associated with species which take large prey items. This further suggests the Malabar trevally can filter the small krill type prey, as well as taking larger fishes and squid. Seasonal diet fluctuation in the species has been observed in northern Australia, where a seasonal abundance of squid causes the preferred prey to change from paenid shrimp