Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) - BirdLife species factsheet

Crested Lark Galerida cristata

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	52,700,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	172000000-238000000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2018
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.11 years	-	-	-

Population justification: In Europe, the total population size is estimated at 34,300,000-47,500,000 mature individuals, with 17,100,000-23,800,000 breeding pairs (BirdLife International 2021), and comprises approximately 20% of the species' global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is between 172,000,000-238,000,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is desirable. In Europe, the species' population is considered to have undergone a small decline over three generations (10 years) (BirdLife International 2021), following regional declines in recent decades, probably owing to habitat loss and degradation (del Hoyo et al. 2004). Based on these data, and the proportion of the species' global range that this region holds, the global population size is considered likely to be decreasing over three generations.

Trend justification: .

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	native	yes
Albania	extant	native		yes
Algeria	extant	native
Armenia	extant	native		yes
Austria	extant	native	yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native	yes
Bahrain	extant	native	yes
Belarus	extant	native	yes
Belgium	extant	native	yes
Benin	extant	native
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native		yes
Bulgaria	extant	native	yes			yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native
Cameroon	extant	native
Central African Republic	extant	native
Chad	extant	native
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Croatia	extant	native	yes
Cyprus	extant	native	yes
Czechia	extant	native	yes
Denmark	extant	native	yes
Djibouti	extant	native
Egypt	extant	native
Eritrea	extant	native
Estonia	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native
Finland	extant	vagrant
France	extant	native	yes
Gambia	extant	native
Georgia	extant	native		yes
Germany	extant	native		yes
Ghana	extant	native
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	native			yes
Greece	extant	native	yes
Hungary	extant	native	yes
India	extant	native		yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes
Iraq	extant	native	yes
Israel	extant	native		yes
Italy	extant	native	yes
Jordan	extant	native	yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native		yes
Kenya	extant	native
Kuwait	extant	native	yes
Kyrgyzstan	extant	native		yes
Latvia	extant	native	yes
Lebanon	extant	native	yes
Libya	extant	native
Liechtenstein	extant	vagrant
Lithuania	extant	native	yes
Luxembourg	extant	native		yes
Mali	extant	native
Malta	extant	vagrant
Mauritania	extant	native
Moldova	extant	native	yes
Mongolia	extant	native		yes
Montenegro	extant	native		yes
Morocco	extant	native
Nepal	extant	native		yes
Netherlands	extant	native	yes
Niger	extant	native
Nigeria	extant	native
North Korea	extant	native		yes
North Macedonia	extant	native	yes
Oman	extant	native	yes
Pakistan	extant	native		yes
Poland	extant	native		yes
Portugal	extant	native	yes
Qatar	extant	native	yes
Romania	extant	native	yes
Russia	extant	native		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	vagrant
Russia (European)	extant	native		yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	native
Serbia	extant	native		yes
Sierra Leone	extant	vagrant
Slovakia	extant	native	yes
Slovenia	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native
South Korea	extant	native		yes
Spain	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Sweden	extant	native	yes
Switzerland	extant	native		yes
Syria	extant	native	yes
Tajikistan	extant	native		yes
Togo	extant	native
Tunisia	extant	native
Türkiye	extant	native	yes
Turkmenistan	extant	native		yes
Ukraine	extant	native	yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	native	yes
United Kingdom	extant	vagrant
Uzbekistan	extant	native		yes
Western Sahara	extant	native		yes
Yemen	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Bulgaria	Sakar
Bulgaria	Western Strandzha
Cyprus	Karpasia Peninsula - Kleides Islands
Cyprus	Kormakitis Peninsula
Cyprus	Koshi-Pallourokampos and Troulloi Plain
Cyprus	Mesaoria Plain
Cyprus	Xeros Valley and Hanoutaris Cliffs
Greece	Thessaly plain

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	suitable	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	suitable	breeding
Savanna	Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Savanna	Dry	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 3200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Crested Lark Galerida cristata. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/crested-lark-galerida-cristata on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.