There aren’t many sounds that are more heart warming than a singing skylark on a summers day. These streaky brown birds are found in farmland, grassland and open countryside across a lot of Europe and Asia. They live in most parts of the UK, but are resident as far south as Portugal, north into Scandinavia and as far east as Japan. They have also been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and a small part of western Canada.
Skylarks are slightly larger than sparrows, with a wingspan of 30 to 36cm and weighing around 40 grams. They have streaked brown and cream feathers over most of their bodies with lighter undersides. They have a crest of feathers on top of their heads and noticeably long claws on their back toes. Its thought that these might help them to stay balanced whilst they are standing on the floor. From their appearance males and females are very similar although male birds are usually slightly larger.
Skylarks are omnivores, their diet includes small seeds and grains, shoots and insects.
In the winter they will often move away from their breeding territories and form small flocks, but come April birds head to their nesting territories and become quite territorial. They will stay with the same mate for multiple years although they have also been known to be a bit unfaithful during the nesting season and to mate with birds that they are not paired with. They create a sup shaped nest on the ground, usually among long grass and away from tall vegetation, which allows them to spot any approaching predators. Each female lays 3 or 4 olive speckled eggs that measure just over 2cm long. She incubates these alone for between just 11 and 14 days, this is the shortest incubation period for any bird in the UK. Both parents feed the chicks in the nest and by just 11 days old they are able to leave, although they cannot yet fly. It takes around 20 days from hatching until they are strong flyers and shortly after this they will become independent of their parents. This quick turn around is very important for skylarks, they will attempt to raise 3 or sometimes even 4 clutches in a year. Their nests have a very high failure rate and by nesting so many times, they are increasing their chances of being successful at least once. After the breeding season is over, adult skylarks often move away from their breeding territories and join others in areas where there is more food for them over the winter.
Skylarks that breed in the UK do not usually migrate during the winter, but in some parts of their range, in northern Europe and Asia they can migrate south, sometimes into northern Africa and southern Asia. There are currently around 1.6 million skylarks in the UK although their numbers did decline drastically between the 1970s and 1980 and their numbers have still dropped by around 15% over the past 25 year. Its thought this decline has been mostly caused by changes in the timings of harvest and crops being planted meaning the skylarks don’t have suitable places to nest or their nests get accidentally destroyed by farm vehicles. They have an average lifespan of around 2 years with the oldest known bird living for 9 years and 10 days. No video about the skylark would be any good without showing off their most well known trait and where their name comes from. They have a habit of flying up into the sky and singing a beautiful song, throughout the year but mostly during sunny weather. Here is how it sounds!
#skylark #birdwatching #britishwildlife
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