Skylark

For other uses see Skylark (disambiguation).

The Skylark (Alauda arvensis) is a small passerine bird. It breeds across most of Europe and Asia and in the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations of are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range, many birds move to lowlands and the coast in winter. Asian birds appear as vagrants in Alaska; this bird has also been introduced in Hawaii and western North America.

Contents

1 Description
2 Farming stewardship and conservation
3 Skylark in culture
4 References
5 External links

Description

The Skylark is 16-18 cm long. It is a bird of open farmland and heath. It is known throughout its range for the song of the male birds, which is delivered in hovering flight from heights of 50-100 meters, when the bird itself may be appear to be just a dot in the sky from the ground. The song is generally 2 to 3 minutes long and it tends to get longer later in the season. The males have broader wings than the females. This adaptation for more efficient hovering flight has probably evolved owing to female birds' preference for males that hover and sing for longer periods - probably as an indicator of overall fitness.

Like most other larks, it is a rather dull-looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below, and with a short blunt erectile crest. In flight it shows a short tail and short broad wings. The tail and the rear edge of the wings are edged with white, which are visible when it is flying away, but not if it is flying towards the observer. They spend a lot of time on the ground looking for food and they have sturdy legs. It feeds on seeds supplemented with insects in the breeding season.

The skylark makes a grass nest on the ground. Generally the nests are very difficult to find, hidden between foliage. 3-6 eggs are laid in June. A second or third brood may be started later in the year. The eggs are yellow/white with brownish/purple spots mainly at the large end.

Farming stewardship and conservation

In the UK skylark numbers have declined over the last 30 years, as determined by the Common Bird Census started in the early 1960s by The British Trust for Orithology. There are now only 10% of the numbers that were present 30 years ago. The RSPB have shown that this massive decline is mainly due to changes in farming practices and only partly due to pesticides. In the past cereals were planted in the spring, grown through the summer and harvested in the early autumn. Cereals are now planted in the autumn, grown through the winter and are harvested in the early summer. The winter grown fields are much too dense in summer for the skylarks to be able to walk and run between the wheat stems to find their food.

Farmers are now encouraged and paid to maintain biodiversity and they can get a few points (toward DEFRAs Entry Level Stewardship financial rewards) for improving the habitat for Skylarks.

The RSPB's research of winter-planted wheat fields over the last 6 years has shown that suitable nesting areas for the Skylark can be made by turning the seeding machine off (or lifting the drill) for a 5 to 10 metres stretch as the tractor goes over the ground to briefly stop the seeds being sown. This is repeated in several areas within the same field to make about 2 skylark areas per hectare. Subsequent spraying and fertilizing can be continuous over the entire field. DEFRA suggests that the skylark areas should not be near to the perimeter of the field (ie should not be within 24 meters from the perimeter of the field), should not be near to telegraph poles and should not enclosed by trees.

When the crop grows the unseeded areas in the field become areas of less dense growth suitable for Skylarks to build well-hidden nests and also suitable for them to hunt insects. These areas of low vegetation are just right, but the wheat in the rest of the field becomes too closely packed and too tall for the Skylarks to hunt on the ground for their food. At the RSPB's research farm in Cambridgeshire the Skylark numbers have increased three fold (from 10 pairs to 30 pairs) over 6 years. The RSPB hope this simple effective technique can be copied nationwide. Fields near too or over where larks were seen the year before would be an obvious good site for these skylark areas. Farmers have reported that the method is easy to implement.

Skylark in culture

A traditional collective noun for skylarks is an "exaltation". Although the OED describes this usage as "fanciful", it traces it back to a quotation from John Lydgate dating from about 1430.

The skylark has featured in many songs, poems and other works of literature and art.

In the Fleetwood Mac song "Rhiannon", Stevie Nicks sings about the title character that:

She rules her life like a fine skylark

Percy Bysshe Shelley's well known poem "To a Skylark" begins:

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!

Bird thou never wert!

The poem "The Lark Ascending" of 112 lines by George Meredith inspired the orchestral music also called "The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Johnny Mercer was the lyricist, and Hoagy Carmichael the composer for the popular song "Skylark".

Skylark was also the title of the sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall. Patricia MacLachlan was the author of both books.

The children's song "Alouette" is about plucking a skylark (alouette is the French word for skylark).

References

BirdLife International (2004). [Alauda arvensis]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

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