Oman - Juvenile Greater Hoopoe-Larks? - Muscat and Jebel Shams (1 Viewer)

[AFM]

Hello! I saw two of these birds on April 15 near Muscat at a lookout point overlooking al-Bustan / Wadi al-Kabir. One seemed to be a juvenile, they other may have been as well but slightly older perhaps, I'm not sure. I then saw what I assume was the same bird two days later in Jebel Shams (near Nizwa). It really looked like some sort of thrush. Fairly long bill and not to thick, it was slightly downward curved with yellow lower mandible and blackish upper mandible. Birds had white eye rings and not much else in the way of plummage markings - fairly uniform brown color but I thought I saw a slightly rufous tail/rump. Photos are labeled by location in case they are not the same species after all. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Steve Lister]

Definitely not Nightingales. How about Desert Larks?

 

[mummymonkey]

Not been to Muscat and though these seem much darker and bigger-billed than the desert larks I'm familiar with I believe they're quite variable.

 

[AFM]

Thank you both! My first thought was Desert Lark or another similar lark, but the birds had such long, thing, downward-curving bills that I couldn't see how it could be a lark. The photos don't show the bill well enough but it really was remarkably long/thin/curved. I have seen Desert Larks before but ironically never a Common Nightingale, hence that rather outlandish.
But now I am realizing that they might be juvenile Greater Hoopoe-Larks - they are that same large size and have the same bill as other adults I have seen here in Oman. In the photo labeled Muscat 7 you can make out what looks like a speckled collar beginning to grow in on the breast.
Does anyone know if my new guess (juvenile Greater Hoopoe-Lark) might be correct?

 

[Butty]

5-6 + 8-9 look like desert lark. Fat bill, uniform upperparts.