Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has an extremely large range and the population size is extremely large, hence does not approach threatened thresholds for the range or population size criteria. Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion. For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
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
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This species inhabits dry plains with sparse vegetation cover and dry cultivations. It may originally have inhabited warm semi-desert and steppe landscapes but it has also adapted to human-modified landscapes, such as open farmed countryside in the northern Mediterranean Basin and alpha (Stipa tenacissima) steppe and deserts in North Africa and the Middle East, and sandy semi-desert and dry cultivations in India, also forest clearings and savanna in the Afrotropics. The breeding season is from March to June or July in the north of its range, from April in Spain, it lays September-June in Senegambia, April-May in Mali, November-March and May in Nigeria, December-March in Ethiopia, April-May in Somalia, March in East Africa and breeding March-August in Pakistan and India. The species is monogamous and usually lays a clutch of three to five eggs. The nest is a depression on the ground with an untidy lining of grass or other vegetation either beside a shrub or in the open (de Juana and Suárez 2004). It feeds on invertebrates and plant material such as seeds and leaves. The species is mainly resident apart from in northern Russia where it is migratory (Snow and Perrins 1998), central European and Mediterranean populations make some dispersive movements (de Juana and Suárez 2004).
This species is threatened by agricultural intensification and over fertilization which results in overgrown vegetation in wastelands and road margins (de Juana and Suárez 2004). In addition the use of pesticides has also negatively affected populations (Tucker and Heath 1994). Changes in urbanization practices, such as new housing or industrial areas being rapidly forested along with afforestation schemes and possibly, climatic change are also threats (de Juana and Suárez 2004).
Conservation Actions Underway
There are currently no known conservation measures for this species within Europe.
Conservation Actions Proposed
Wide scale conservation measures are required for this species including the maintenance of traditional low-intensity farming practices. Management should include the maintenance of mosaics of non-irrigated cereal crops, including short-term set-aside lands, arable lands and wide margins between crops without any chemical treatments. In addition research should focus on the biological processes affecting the distribution and abundance of this species (Tucker and Heath 1994).
Text account compilers
Rutherford, C.A., Martin, R.
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.