June

Skylark

A well-known species in literature, poetry, art and music, the skylark hardly needs an introduction. Best known for its display flight, vertically up in the air.

It is that time of year when the Walled Garden, where Research and Advisory is stationed at GWCT HQ, falls a little quiet, as both teams are out in force undertaking fieldwork, racking up the miles on their pedometers while gathering vital data.

I have been out doing dawn breeding bird surveys; corn bunting and bumblebee surveys; and have seen some stunning sunrises and watched barn owls still out hunting, quartering the farmland with the backdrop of the crimson sky; been barked at by roe deer; and seen the season of spring come in all its colourful glory and the signs of summer to come.

But one thing that is a constant throughout this sometimes relentless time of fieldwork, trying to work with ever-changing weather systems, is the song of the skylark (Alauda arvensis). It truly is the soundtrack of my childhood working on the farm and continues to be in my role at GWCT, with their exuberant variety of calls, from the ‘preeet’ to the rolling, melodious chirruping and fast tumbling whistle while on the wing, watching me from high up in the sky on a hot summer’s day.

The skylark song does imprint in your mind and, once heard, it is never forgotten, as it is such a beautiful song, wonderfully captured in the poem Lark Ascending by George Meredith – a small extract below, but do find and read it all!

He rises and begins to round,
He drops the silver chain of sound
Of many links without a break,
In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake,
All intervolv’d and spreading wide,
Like water-dimples down a tide
Where ripple ripple overcurls
And eddy into eddy whirls;
A press of hurried notes that run
So fleet they scarce are more than one,
Yet changingly the trills repeat
And linger ringing while they fleet,
Sweet to the quick o’ the ear, and dear

Identification

The skylark is a small passerine bird (birds of a large order distinguished by having feet that are adapted for perching, including all songbirds), which is streaky brown, larger than a wren but smaller than a starling. It sings better than it looks! It has a small crest on its head, which can be raised when the bird is excited or alarmed, and it has a white-sided tail. The wings also have a white rear edge, visible in flight.

Habitat

They are found across Britain and Ireland, mainly on areas of open landscapes and farmland – preferring larger arable and grassland fields in the summer – whilst in the winter skylarks often gather in large flocks on farmland, saltmarsh and dunes. They prefer the open areas to allow sightings of potential predators.

Conservation status

The skylark is one of 19 species that make up the UK Farmland Bird Indicator. As a group, these species are amongst our most declining birds, and skylark numbers have fallen precipitously since the mid-1970s with a red listed status. However, according to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the latest UK population trend indicates a small upturn in this species’ fortunes.

Nesting

Skylarks nest on the ground between April and August in short grass or crops, avoiding vegetation over 60cm high, and can produce up to four broods a season, laying 4-3 eggs at a time. But it does depend where they nest, as winter-sown crops and silage fields are only suitable for a single brood, making buffer strips and spring crops essential to maintain adult populations where they can have more than one brood. The female incubates the eggs for 12-14 days, with fledging occurring from 11-15 days old.

The typical lifespan is only two years, breeding in the first year, but the oldest ringed bird was just over nine years old!

Food

Adults feed on a range of seeds and plant shoots including knotgrass, groundsel, fat hen and grasses. Chicks are entirely dependent on insects until fledging, favouring sawfly larvae, beetles, ants, spiders and grasshoppers.

Beneficial management

There is good evidence to indicate that the most likely cause of declines in skylark is agricultural intensification, specifically the change from spring to autumn sowing of cereals, which reduces breeding attempts (BTO). So, here are a few beneficial management suggestions that will have a positive effect on skylark numbers.

• Include a spring cereal as part of the arable rotation. This provides ideal and much needed late-season nesting habitat.
• Retain over-winter stubble, especially cereal stubbles, to provide a source of winter food and a nesting habitat in spring/summer.
• Buffer strips and field margins will provide similar conditions and can attract very high breeding densities. Aim for a range of grass heights and structures.
• Be mindful of nesting birds and fledglings when cutting silage, fallow and buffer strips.
• Consider including ‘skylark plots’ within winter cereals.

Symbolism and meaning

Countless poems, songs, artworks, works of literature and folklore stories have been written about this beloved farmland bird. Considered by many as a symbol of joy and freedom in many European cultures, while the Native Americans of the Plains, the skylark symbolises taking risks with bravery and courage. I can see why that is, as to sing so loud and proud, high up and alone – you do make yourself quite vulnerable to predation!

Finally, I will end this Species of the Month by suggesting two things: you listen to the wonderful piece of music Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams, which I find quite moving and was inspired by the poem of the same name by George Meredith (referred to earlier); and finally you spend some time with William Shakespeare, who frequently mentioned the skylark in his work, with 27 occurrences in text and in the following plays:

All’s Well That Ends Well, Cymbeline, Henry V, Henry VIII, King Lear, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard II, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, Troilus and Cressida, and The Winter's Tale.

My favourite sonnet - Sonnet 29 (Line 9):

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.