Eurasian skylark
Eurasian skylark | |
---|---|
With caterpillar caught in beak | |
Song recorded in Wales | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Alaudidae |
Genus: | Alauda |
Species: | A. arvensis
|
Binomial name | |
Alauda arvensis | |
Subspecies | |
See text | |
Range of A. arvensis Breeding Resident Passage Non-breeding Extant & Introduced (resident) Possible extinct & Introduced
|
The Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis) is a
The female Eurasian skylark builds an open nest in a shallow depression on open ground well away from trees, bushes and hedges. She lays three to five eggs which she incubates for around 11 days. The chicks are fed by both parents but leave the nest after eight to ten days, well before they can fly. They scatter and hide in the vegetation but continue to be fed by the parents until they can fly at 18 to 20 days of age. Nests are subject to high predation rates by larger birds and small mammals. The parents can have several broods in a single season.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Eurasian skylark was
Formerly, many authorities considered the Japanese skylark as a separate species. It is now usually considered a subspecies of the Eurasian skylark.[6] Alternate names for the Eurasian skylark include northern skylark and sky lark.[7]
Subspecies
Eleven subspecies are recognized:[3]
- A. a. arvensis Linnaeus, 1758 – northern, western and central Europe
- A. a. sierrae Weigold, 1913 – Portugal, central and southern Spain
- A. a. harterti Whitaker, 1904 – north-western Africa
- A. a. cantarella Bonaparte, 1850 – southern Europe from north-eastern Spain to Turkey and the Caucasus
- A. a. armenica Bogdanov, 1879 – south-eastern Turkey to Iran
- A. a. dulcivox Hume, 1872 – south-eastern European Russia and western Siberia to north-western China and south-western Mongolia
- A. a. kiborti Zaliesski, 1917 – southern Siberia, northern and eastern Mongolia and north-eastern China
- A. a. intermedia R. Swinhoe, 1863 – north-central Siberia to north-eastern China and Korea
- A. a. pekinensis Swinhoe, 1863 – north-eastern Siberia, Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands
- A. a. lonnbergi Sakhalin Island
- A. a. japonica Temminck & Schlegel, 1848 – southern Sakhalin Island, southern Kuril Island, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands: the Japanese skylark
Some authorities recognise the subspecies A. a. scotia
Description
The Eurasian skylark is 18–19 cm (7.1–7.5 in) in length.[9] Like most other larks, the Eurasian skylark is a rather dull-looking species, being mainly brown above and paler below. It has a short blunt crest on the head, which can be raised and lowered. 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 the bird is flying away, but not if it is heading towards the observer. The male has broader wings than the female. This adaptation for more efficient hovering flight may have evolved because of female Eurasian skylarks' preference for males that sing and hover for longer periods and so demonstrate that they are likely to have good overall fitness.
It is known for the song of the male, which is delivered in hovering flight from heights of 50 to 100 m, when the singing bird may appear as just a dot in the sky from the ground. The long, unbroken song is a clear, bubbling warble delivered high in the air while the bird is rising, circling or hovering.[10] The song generally lasts two to three minutes, but it tends to last longer later in the mating season, when songs can last for 20 minutes or more. At wind farm sites, male skylarks have been found to sing at higher frequencies as a result of wind turbine noise.[11]
Distribution and habitat
This lark 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 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, subspecies A. a. pekinensis, appear as vagrants in Alaska.[12]
Introduced populations
In the 19th century multiple batches of Eurasian skylarks were released in New Zealand beginning in 1864 in Nelson (in the South Island) and in 1867 in Auckland (in the North Island). The wild population increased rapidly and had spread throughout both the North and South Islands by the 1920s.[13][14]
In Australia the Eurasian skylark was introduced on multiple occasions beginning in 1850.
The Eurasian skylark was introduced to the southeastern Hawaiian Islands beginning in 1865. Although once common, it has declined in abundance on Oahu and is no longer found on Kauai. A study published in 1986 found European skylarks remained only on the islands of Hawaii and Maui and estimated a total population of 10,000 individuals.[16][17]
The Eurasian skylark was introduced to Vancouver Island off the west coast of Canada in 1903; additional birds were introduced in 1913.[18] The population grew and by 1962 there were around 1000 individuals.[19] The numbers have subsequently declined due to loss of habitat, and in 2007 there were estimated to be only around 100 individuals spread over four small areas of the Saanich Peninsula.[20][21]
Behaviour and ecology
Breeding
Eurasian skylarks first breed when they are one year of age. Nesting may start in late March or early April. The nest is probably built by the female alone and is a shallow depression in the ground lined with grasses. The clutch is 3 to 5 eggs. The eggs of the nominate subspecies average 23.4 mm × 16.8 mm (0.92 in × 0.66 in) in size and weigh around 3.35 g (0.118 oz). They have a grey-white or greenish background and are covered in brown or olive spots. They are incubated only by the female beginning after the last egg is laid and hatch synchronously after 11 days.
Feeding
The Eurasian skylark walks over the ground searching for food on the soil surface. Its diet consists of insects and plant material such as seeds and young leaves. Unlike a finch (family Fringillidae) it swallows seeds without removing the husk. Insects form an important part of the diet in summer.[24]
Threats
In the UK, Eurasian skylark numbers have declined since the 1970s, as determined by the Common Bird Census started in the early 1960s by the
A list of conservation interventions that could impact the species was published by the RSPB.
In culture
When the word "lark" is used without specification, it usually refers to this species.[28] A collective noun for Eurasian skylarks is an "exaltation". Although the Oxford English Dictionary describes this usage as "fanciful", it traces it back to a quotation from John Lydgate dating from about 1430.[29] The verb "skylark", originally used by sailors, means "play tricks or practical jokes; indulge in horseplay, frolic". The verb and noun "lark", with similar meaning, may be related to "skylark" or to the dialect word "laik" (New Shorter OED).
The bird is the subject of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley (To a Skylark), George Meredith (The Lark Ascending), Ted Hughes (Skylarks), and numerous others; and of pieces of music including The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams (inspired by the eponymous poem). It is also the bird emblem of Kumamoto Prefecture.[30] The Skylark of Space is a series of four science fiction novels by E.E. "Doc" Smith.
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 165.
- ^ a b c Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Nicators, reedling, larks". World Bird List Version 8.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- PMID 23792153.
- ^ "Alauda japonica - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ Donald 2004, p. 48.
- S2CID 216391146. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ^ Cramp 1988, p. 188.
- ISBN 978-0-600-35729-2.
- .
- ^ Gibson, D.D.; Withrow, J.J. (2015). "Inventory of the species and subspecies of Alaska birds, Second Edition" (PDF). Western Birds. 46 (2): 94–185 [135].
- ^ Thomson, G.M. (1922). The Naturalisation of Animals and Plants in New Zealand. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 140–142.
- ^ a b Higgins et al. 2006, p. 1043.
- ^ Higgins et al. 2006, p. 1042.
- ^ Scott, J.M.; Mountainspring, S.; Ramsey, F.L.; Kepler, C.B. (1986). Forest bird communities of the Hawaiian Islands: their dynamics, ecology, and conservation (PDF). Studies in Avian Biology 9. Cooper Ornithological Society. pp. 252–253.
- ^ Pyle, R.L.; Pyle, P. (2017). "Eurasian Skylark" (PDF). The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status (Version 2). Bishop Museum, Honolulu. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- JSTOR 1363485.
- ^ Stirling, D.; Edwards, R.Y. (1962). "Notes on the Skylark on Vancouver Island". Canadian Field-Naturalist. 76: 147–152.
- doi:10.2173/bna.286.
- ^ Davidson, P.J.A. (2015). Davidson, P.J.A.; Cannings, R.J.; Couturier, A.R.; Lepage, D.; Di Corrado, C.M. (eds.). "Sky Lark". The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of British Columbia, 2008-2012. Bird Studies Canada. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ a b Cramp 1988, p. 201.
- ^ Cramp 1988, pp. 194, 201.
- ^ Cramp 1988, p. 192.
- ^ Massimino, D.; et al. (2019). BirdTrends 2019: trends in numbers, breeding success and survival for UK breeding birds (Report). BTO Research Report. Vol. 722. Thetford: BTO.
- ^ "Alauda arvensis". Conservation Evidence. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ^ BTO News Number 269, March to April 2007, page 15
- ^ "lark". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "exaltation". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "Kumamoto Prefecture". www3.pref.nara.jp. The East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress. July 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-19-857508-5.
- Donald, Paul F. (2004). The Skylark. London: T. and A.D. Poyser. ISBN 978-0-7136-6568-0.
- Higgins, P.J.; Peter, J.M.; Cowling, S.J., eds. (2006). "Alauda arvensis Skylark" (PDF). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Vol. 7, Boatbill to starlings, Part 7 A, Boatbill to larks. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. pp. 1039–1052. ISBN 978-0-19-553996-7.
Further reading
- Bawcutt, P. (1972). "The lark in Chaucer and some later poets". Yearbook of English Studies. 2: 5–12. JSTOR 3506502.
External links
- Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the Eurasian skylark
- "Identifying Skylark & Woodlark". British Trust for Ornithology. 9 June 2015.
- Oiseaux images
- Ageing and sexing (PDF; 1.3 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze Archived 15 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- List of skylark poems