Larks (Alaudidae) present a heavily worn plumage for the most part of the annual cycle. Authors observed that lark feathers have unmelanized fringes and are prone to breakage. Larks may have turned need into a virtue: they possibly cannot avoid a premature damage of their fragile plumage, and instead of incurring the cost of molting repeatedly, they gain the advantage of a form of crypsis known as disruptive camouflage.