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Woodlark

Woodlark

Lullula arborea

Identify the Woodlark by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Woodlark is a small, warm-brown, short-tailed lark of open heaths and pine clearings, found from Europe across the Middle East to western Asia and in the mountains of North Africa. It is the only member of its genus and is famous for its sweet, fluting “lu-lu-lu” song given in looping song flights. Western birds are mostly resident, while northern and eastern birds migrate. It has declined where heaths and other open habitats have been lost.

Did you know?

  • Its scientific name Lullula and French name alouette lulu echo its lilting song.
  • Its pale supercilia meet at the back of the head in a neat “V”.

Voice

Song
Flight call

About the species

Identification

A small, streaked brown lark with a very short tail, a small crest and a white supercilium that meets on the nape in a “V”. A distinctive black-and-white patch shows on the leading edge of the wing, and the very short tail is obvious in flight. It lacks the white trailing edge and white outer tail feathers of Skylark. The male sings in long, circling song flights.

Family

Alaudidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

brown, white, black

About the habitat

Dry, open habitats with sparse trees and patches of bare ground – heaths, sandy fallows, dunes, clear-cuts, young pine plantations and forest edges.

Diet

Insects such as beetles, ants, caterpillars and spiders in spring and summer; mainly seeds in autumn and winter, taken from bare patches and short turf.

Behaviour

Often runs on the ground and perches on stumps, posts or low trees. Males give long circling or hovering song flights, and both sexes may sing from a perch. It nests on the ground in a shallow scrape hidden in low vegetation and starts breeding early, often raising two broods.

Sources

Photo: Ján Svetlík, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lullula arborea (Ján Svetlík).jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC914816, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/914816

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC707132, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/707132

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlark

See also