There are many sounds that take us back to summer but perhaps one of the most memorable soundtracks is the song of the Skylark. Its beautiful trills from high in the sky accompany us on our walks along the coast through spring and summer and have inspired writers, artists and musicians through the years. In this article, Ranger Julie takes a closer look at this high altitude songster.

The Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis) is renowned for beautiful liquidy song. Unlike the majority of birds, which sing whilst perched, the male skylark sings as it flies, rising vertically from the ground, powering upwards. Sometimes it will continue straight up and other times will fly a square route overhead, to indicate how large its breeding territory is. As with most birdsong in spring, this is designed to attract a mate. Once its song is complete, it will swiftly drop back down to earth, landing in silence. This is known as parachuting. These song flights climb on average between 50 to 100 metres, which is 160 to 330 ft.

What they look like:

Skylarks are a little smaller than a starling. They have a brown body with darker brown streaks along the feathers and creamy white undersides. If you see them perching or flying, they have a very noticeable punky top knot, almost like a quiff. They can raise and lower this, so sometimes it will be barely noticeable, other times it will stand very proud.

Breeding:
The skylark breeds right across Europe and Russia. It has also been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the Hawaiian Islands. Its classification name, arvensis, is Latin for ‘of the field’, which is exactly where you can find them. They prefer habitats out in the open in meadows or heaths and dunes with no scrub coverage.

When breeding, skylark don’t create traditional nests. They don’t collect twigs and form them into a structure wedged in amongst tree branches. The eggs are simply deposited in a grassy depression on the ground. As the eggs are only about two-and-a-half centimetres long, it is very easy to tread on them. Dogs can also damage them if they are allowed to run around off lead in a field which skylarks use. So, if you see skylarks flying, make a note of what fields they are over. If you have to cross that area, stick to the well-established paths or the field edges keeping dogs on leads. They are on the conservation status red list, so it is essential that we look out for them and help them breed successfully.

Once paired up, the birds lay eggs from March or April. A usual clutch size is 3 to 5 eggs, which take 11 days to hatch. The chicks begin to develop flight feathers aged ten days and leave the nest flying away about ten days later. This is the shortest incubation and fledging of any British bird species. Because this reproduction is so swift, they can have two or three clutches of eggs per breeding season. The female incubates the eggs and both parents collect insects to start the chicks off, then gradually introduce seeds and greenery into the diet.

Have a look at this link if you want to find out how farmers and land mangers have been assisting skylarks by changing how land management is undertaken.

Inspiration from nature:

As we mentioned at the beginning, this little bird has been seen as inspirational to many artists and writers.

Vaughn Williams (1872-1958) wrote a famous violin piece entitled Lark Ascending. If you can’t get out and about to hear the real thing, enjoy this link instead YouTube Vaughn Williams Lark Ascending

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) wrote a poem ‘To a Skylark’ which you can read here

as did William Wordsworth (1770–1850) Wordsworth To A Skylark

So when you are out exploring our coast in the sunshine, keep your ears open for the Skylark’s magnificent song and you might spot it way above your head.  Don’t forget to keep to the paths to avoid disturbing or damaging their nests and keep dogs under control. Thank you!