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24

Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) Alternate name(s): "Common Skylark", "Skylark" German name(s): "Feldlerche" Size: 16-19 cm; wing span 30-36 cm Weight: 25-55 g

Europe: Family Group 24 Family Group 24 Table White Wagtail Western Yellow Wagtail Grey Wagtail Tawny Pipit Berthelot's Pipit Red-throated Pipit Tree Pipit Meadow Pipit Water Pipit Eurasian Rock Pipit Greater Short-toed Lark Calandra Lark Woodlark Eurasian Skylark Bearded Reedling House Sparrow Tree Sparrow Spanish Sparrow Rock Sparrow Trumpeter Finch European Serin Atlantic Canary Red-fronted Serin Eurasian Siskin Common Redpoll Arctic Redpoll Common Linnet Brambling Common Chaffinch European Goldfinch Eurasian Bullfinch Hawfinch Common Crossbill Common Rosefinch Yellowhammer Cirl Bunting Common Reed Bunting Ortolan Bunting Black-headed Bunting Corn Bunting Rock Bunting House Bunting Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Eurasian Skylarks are medium-sized larks. Their plumage is highly cryptic. The cap and nape of the neck are grey-brown, with fine dark streaks. The grey lores and eye stripes connect to a grey fringe around the grey-brown, lightly streaked ear coverts. The chin is grey, the breast and flanks are grey with mid- to dark-brown streaking, the belly, vent and undertail coverts are again grey. The upperparts, from mantle to rump, are grey-brown with brown streaking; the wings are dark-grey, with light-brown edge lining to the coverts, which gives the folded wings a scalloped look. The wings have a narrow white trailing edge. The uppertail, the center of which is grey-brown with brown streaks, is otherwise dark-grey, with narrow white outer edges. Eurasian Skylarks have a small erectile crest that is most apparent in autumn, but flattened by wear in spring. The irises are black, the bill has a grey upper mandible and a lighter, yellowish-grey lower mandible. The legs are the colour of skin. Juveniles are browner than adults and they have white tips to the wing coverts and also white spots on the crown.

Taxonomy, classification See Eurasian Skylark at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Eurasian Skylark is available HERE . Eurasian Skylarks are a migratory species. They breed in Europe, along the north-western coastal fringe of Africa, in Asia Minor and around the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (with the exception of the Caucasus) and in temperate parts of Asia. In summer they extend their range to populate basically all of Europe. They also move into the mountainous regions of Anatolia, the Caucasus and northwards well into the western and central Asian tundra. In winter migrants will move into more southern areas, such as the Mediterranean, the entire North-African coastal fringe and into the Middle East, parts of Arabia, Korea and southern Japan. There are significant introduced populations in South-east Australia and in New Zealand. In Europe Eurasian Skylarks are permanent residents in the central, western (including the British Isles) and southern parts of the continent, with the exception of the Alps. During the breeding season they extend their range to encompass basically the entire continent, including the Scottish highlands and all of eastern Europe, but with the exception of the highest mountain areas in Scandinavia. The northern and eastern breeders will move to the South during winter, to mix with the sedentary populations in temperate regions and around the Mediterranean Sea.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "arvensis" D. Wilczynska reports spotting Eurasian Skylarks, nominate race "arvensis", near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, in April 2016 and in Biebrza National Park, Poland, in May 2016, and near Brok, Masovia, Poland in March 2019. In the past we have seen Eurasian Skylarks, race "arvensis", regularly in the Eifel, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, over decades since the 1960ies. Race "sierrae" J. Pires reports spotting Eurasian Skylarks, race "sierrae", semi-regularly in the area from the Tejo estuary to Mora, Evora, Portugal.

Photos

Race "arvensis"

ADULT

MALE

Lateral view of a male Eurasian Skylark with its crest erected (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2019]

Ventral view of a male Eurasian Skylark hovering in display flight; this is the bird whose territorial song was recorded on 22 March 2019 (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2019]

FEMALE

Lateral view of a female Eurasian Skylark (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a female Eurasian Skylark (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a female Eurasian Skylark (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2019]

Dorsal view of a (probably female) Eurasian Skylark (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza National Park, Poland, May 2016]

Race "sierrae"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of an Eurasian Skylark in worn plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, May 2020]

Near-dorsal view of an Eurasian Skylark (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, April 2017]

Lateral view of an Eurasian Skylark hovering low above the ground; note the long tail with the characteristic white outer tail feathers and the long hind toes (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, March 2019]

Dorsal view of an Eurasian Skylark in flight; note the characteristic off-white feathers on the sides of the tail and the white trailing edges on the wings (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, May 2020]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile Eurasian Skylark; note the white spots (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2020]

Near-frontal view of a juvenile Eurasian Skylark (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, May 2020]

Lateral view of a juvenile Eurasian Skylark (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2020]

Lateral view of juvenile Eurasian Skylarks on the ground (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Lateral view of juvenile Eurasian Skylarks on the ground, with an adult in the foreground (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Eurasian Skylark (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Eurasian Skylark, crest erected (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2020]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of an Eurasian Skylark with its prey, a flying insect (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, May 2020]

Lateral view of an Eurasian Skylark eating its prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, May 2020]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

skylark_dw_20160508.m4a	arvensis (Poland)	Territorial calls (male; display flight)	© DW
skylark_dw_20190322.m4a	arvensis (Poland)	Territorial calls (male; display flight)	© DW
skylark_jp_20230218.mp3	sierrae (Portugal)	Territorial calls (male)	© JP
skylark_jp_20200517.m4a	sierrae (Portugal)	Territorial calls (male)	© JP
skylark_jp_20200316.m4a	sierrae (Portugal)	Territorial calls (male; display flight)	© JP
skylark_jp_20200505.m4a	sierrae (Portugal)	Territorial calls (males; Q&A)	© JP

More Eurasian Skylark sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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