Skylark

Description

Alauda arvensis has a scale of 35 cm for a weight from 30 to 50 G. No sexual dimorphism if it is not the higher size of the male which can reach 19 cm.

The plumage of the skylark not very conspicuous, brown is striated with brown-noirâtre in the upper part with a cap more sunk a little and a yellow throat, finely striated with brown dark. The peak on the top of the cap is roughcast at certain times. The eyes brown dark are raised of an eyebrow white-yellow, the nozzle is rather short and color horn. The lower part of the body is cream-coloured except the chest chamois clearly striated with brown-black, the lengthened tail and almost black has the mottled external rectrices of white. The wings bordered more clearly, legs and toes are maroon clear, the back finger is longer than the others.

The lark court with short-nap cloth the ground and is flattened there in the event of danger, the " trrlit" who can last of the minutes and the flight going up in spiral followed by a descent in piqué is characteristic. The Skylark sings one says also grisolle, moneybox or turlutte - also on the ground in a very mélodieuse way, sometimes during more than one hour, and like that of the Rossignol, this song fascinated the human ones.

Habitat

All the Eurasia except the Iceland and the Asia, the lark lives in the meadows and the Champs, in plain as in altitude, leaving the cold zones to winter in the South of Europe or the North Africa. With the approach of spring, the males are the first to remake the opposite migration to take again possession of their territory. The disappearance of the open zones favourable with the life of the Eurasian lark, the techniques agricultural and the hunting still practiced in many areas threaten this species. " Lark, nice lark, lark, I will pluck you… "

Reproduction

Two even three brooded per annum. Flight and bridal parade precede the coupling: the male goes up and spirals while singing then drops itself on the ground like a stone. There, he parades around the female, drawn up peak, lowered wings and tail deployed in range until it accepts fecundation. The nest hidden in a hole under grass is made containing grass and of plants and papered feathers, hairs, hairs, etc the female lays there from two to five eggs with the yellow gray shell finely mottled, it broods them during 11 days. The two parents take part in the breeding of small who leave the nest 10 days after the blossoming and fly away definitively at the age of three or four weeks to carry out an autonomous life. Brooded are often victims of the raptors, snakes and other predatory.

Mythology

Symbols: The Roman legions which were primarily made up of Gallic had as a distinctive sign of the wings of larks to decorate their helmets. Our emblem, the French cockerel, was selected only with the French revolution.

Song

The Skylark grisolle, moneybox, turlute. The male skylark has a complex song. The song is emitted in vol. One can hear a whistle “trli” or a sound “dji”, on varied tonalities. The trilles and the tremors are often repeated with different speeds, tonalities, lengths and stamps. When the skylark sings on the ground, the song is calmer and shorter, with chirps and pauses. The same mélodieuse sequence can last more than one hour. The song of the skylark is single. Its quality, its variety and its length inspired by many artists, fascinated by its marvellous variations

Behaviors

The skylark lives on the ground. To nourish itself, she excavates on the ground, seeking her food at sight, a little squatted and advancing progressively. Its plumage makes it almost invisible on the ground. It is very gregarious during the migrations and in winter, formant of great groups mixed with other species like the pipits, the finches and the buntings. The majority of the populations are sedentary, but the cold winters see the Scandinavian populations migrating towards the South, joining the residents living in these zones. If time is too cold, the larks die in great numbers. The male sings above or on its territory, to approximately 50 to 60 meters of the nest. The song is used to defend the territory and to reinforce the bonds between the partners. The couples are monogamists and remain together during all the season of reproduction, but if they survive the winter, they could still be the following year together. The partners cooperate to raise the young people and to get food to them, using a perfect knowledge of their territory. The couples are formed in February, giving up the great winter groups to establish their territory, generally the same one as the previous year. This moment, the males begin their nuptial flights, rising ground in spiral and strongly singing. Once to good height, the male spirals, alternating beats of wings and slipped, always while singing. When it arrives at a less height, it is dropped on the ground like a stone. There, it still carries out other parades, going around the female with the drawn up peak, the lowered wings and the tail deployed in range. The bridal parade reaches its peak in March and April, and much more after strong rains, but one does not know why! The skylark is territorial during the season of reproduction. The bird carries out parades of dissuasion on the ground, inflating its feathers and roughcasting its peak, and some actions of intimidation, but also of the air parades such as series of slipped rising with beats of wings towards the intruder.

Flight

The skylark flies at low altitude above the countryside, on short distances, often turning close to the ground while shouting. On long distances, the flight becomes undulating, but the lark has also a powerful direct flight. During the migrations, it can traverse from 30 to 80 km per day.

Mode

The skylark nourishes insects and larvae, worms of ground, and seeds and seeds various.

Protection/Threats

Brooded skylark is the prey of the small raptors, the foxes and the snakes. The adults are captured by the human ones for their flesh. This species is protected, but the human ones continue to trap them, and these methods reduce in an important way their numbers. The populations of skylarks are also threatened by the loss of the habitat, with the changes in husbandries and the loss of the open campaigns.

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