Skylark

From Free net encyclopedia

For other uses see Skylark (disambiguation).

{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Skylark | image = Skylark59.jpg | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Passeriformes | familia = Alaudidae | genus = Alauda | species = A. arvensis | binomial = Alauda arvensis | binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 }}

The Skylark (Alauda arvensis) is a small passerine bird. It 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 of 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 appear as vagrants in Alaska; this bird has also been introduced in Hawaii and western North America.

The Skylark is 16-18 cm long. It is a bird of open farmland and heath, familiar throughout its range, not least for its song, delivered non-stop in flight from heights of 100 m or more, when the bird itself may be just a dot in the sky.

Like most other larks, it is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below, and with a short blunt erectile crest. In flight it shows a short tail and short broad wings. The tail and the rear edge of the wings are edged with white.

The nest is on the ground, with 3-6 eggs being laid. Food is seeds supplemented with insects in the breeding season.

The Skylark has been the subject of orchestral music ("The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams), as well as featuring in many songs and poems; the best known probably being Percy Bysshe Shelley's To a Skylark, which begins:

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!

Bird thou never wert!

Johnny Mercer was the lyricist for the popular song "Skylark" [[1]]

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