Eurasian Skylark

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Eurasian Skylark - Eurasian Skylark

Alauda arvensis


Male and female similar. Upperparts brown and heavily streaked. Pale eyebrow and ring around the cheek. A cap-like crest, pale underparts and a tail edged white. Size 17-19 cm.


Details
Type
Bird
Group
Other Common Names
Common Skylark, English Skylark
Biology

Breeds September-January. Builds a grass-lined cup nest on the ground under over-hanging grass tussocks. Females incubate the eggs. Both males and females feed the young.

Distinctive Markings

A brown streaked bird with a cap-like crest.

Taxonomy
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Alaudidae
Genus
Alauda
Species
arvensis

Native to Europe and Asia. Distributed throughout Victoria, Tasmania, south-eastern South Australia and southern New South Wales.

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

Eurasian Skylarks were introduced to Australia from Britain in the 1850s.


Interesting Facts
Diet

Omnivore, feeding on invertebrates, grass shoots and seeds.

Habitat

Cultivated grasslands, crops, coastal dunes.

Native Status
Introduced
Audio
Audio samples
Sounds
Usually heard in flight, a long mellow "chirrup".