“... perhaps the most controversial bird in California’s birding history ... the bird in question was identified for several days by a legion of birders as a Smith’s Longspur. Eventually, it proved to be a species of lark!”
—Shuford and DeSante 1979
We report here on a Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) wintering at Point Reyes, Marin County, California, from 1978 to 1983, which showed characteristics of northeast Asiatic/Alaskan populations. It represents the first record of a naturally occurring Eurasian Skylark in North America outside of Alaska and the first North American mainland record. Morlan (1979) and McCaskie (1979) discussed the bird’s initial visit, and the record has been reviewed briefly by Roberson (1980).
From the beginning this bird posed an identification problem which seemed insurmountable. Intense controversy developed over whether the bird should be collected, some of which appeared in print (Duncan 1979, Bourne 1980, Garrett 1980, Gibson 1981b). Ultimately this record was reviewed and accepted by the California Bird Records Committee (Luther 1980). We present here details of how the identification problem was finally resolved in the hope that it may serve as a guide for such difficult cases in the future.