Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) - BirdLife species factsheet

Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note

Alauda arvensis (AERC TAC [2003]; AOU [1998 and supplements]; Christidis and Boles [2008]; Cramp et al. [1977-1994]; Dowsett and Forbes-Watson [1993]; Sibley and Monroe [1990, 1993]; Turbott [1990]) and A. japonica (Sibley and Monroe [1990, 1993]) have been lumped into A. arvensis following del Hoyo and Collar (2016).

Taxonomic source(s)
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
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

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)	103,000,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	42,900,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	290000000-529999999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2012
Population trend	decreasing	-	estimated	-
Generation length	4.3 years	-	-	-

Population justification: In Europe, the breeding population is estimated to number 44,300,000-78,800,000 pairs, which equates to 88,700,000-158,000,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). Europe forms c.30% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 295,600,000-526,600,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed. National population estimates include: c.10,000-100,000 breeding pairs and c.1,000-10,000 individuals on migration in China; < c.50 individuals on migration and < c.50 wintering individuals in Taiwan; c.10,000-100,000 breeding pairs and c.1,000-10,000 wintering individuals in Korea; c.10,000-100,000 breeding pairs and c.1,000-10,000 wintering individuals in Japan and c.10,000-100,000 breeding pairs and c.1,000-10,000 individuals on migration in Russia (Brazil 2009).

Trend justification: The population is estimated to be in decline following marked regional declines in recent decades linked to agricultural intensification (del Hoyo et al. 2004). In Europe, trends between 1980 and 2013 show that populations have undergone a moderate decline (p<0.01) (EBCC 2015).

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
Andorra	extant	native		yes
Armenia	extant	native		yes
Australia	extant	introduced		yes
Austria	extant	native	yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native	yes
Bahrain	extant	native			yes
Belarus	extant	native		yes
Belgium	extant	native	yes
Bermuda (to UK)	extant	vagrant
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native	yes
Bulgaria	extant	native	yes			yes
Canada	extant	introduced	yes
Chad	extant	vagrant
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Croatia	extant	native	yes
Cyprus	extant	native			yes
Czechia	extant	native	yes
Denmark	extant	native	yes			yes
Egypt	extant	native
Estonia	extant	native	yes
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	native		yes
Finland	extant	native	yes			yes
France	extant	native	yes			yes
Georgia	extant	native		yes
Germany	extant	native	yes			yes
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	native			yes
Greece	extant	native	yes			yes
Hong Kong (China)	extant	vagrant
Hungary	extant	native		yes
India	extant	native
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes
Iraq	extant	native			yes
Ireland	extant	native	yes
Israel	extant	native
Italy	extant	native	yes			yes
Japan	extant	native	yes
Jordan	extant	native			yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native		yes
Kuwait	extant	native			yes
Kyrgyzstan	extant	native		yes
Latvia	extant	native		yes
Lebanon	extant	native			yes	yes
Libya	extant	native
Liechtenstein	extant	native		yes
Lithuania	extant	native	yes
Luxembourg	extant	native	yes
Malta	extant	native			yes
Mauritania	extant	vagrant
Moldova	extant	native	yes			yes
Mongolia	extant	native		yes
Montenegro	extant	native		yes
Morocco	extant	native
Netherlands	extant	native	yes
New Zealand	extant	introduced		yes
North Korea	extant	native		yes
North Macedonia	extant	native	yes
Norway	extant	native		yes
Oman	extant	native			yes	yes
Pakistan	extant	native
Palestine	extant	native
Poland	extant	native		yes
Portugal	extant	native	yes
Qatar	extant	native			yes
Romania	extant	native	yes
Russia	extant	native		yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (European)	extant	native		yes
San Marino	extant	native
Saudi Arabia	extant	native			yes
Serbia	extant	native		yes
Slovakia	extant	native	yes
Slovenia	extant	native	yes
South Korea	extant	native		yes
Spain	extant	native	yes
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway)	extant	vagrant
Sweden	extant	native	yes
Switzerland	extant	native	yes
Syria	extant	native			yes	yes
Tajikistan	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	native	yes
USA	extant	introduced	yes
Uzbekistan	extant	native		yes
Western Sahara	extant	native			yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Bulgaria	Zlatiata
Czechia	Krivoklatsko (Krivoklatsko region)
Russia (European)	Flood-plain of Algashka river (Kirsko-Algashinskaya)
Russia (European)	Orenburgski Nature Reserve

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Sand Dunes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Sand Dunes	suitable	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	major	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Tidepools	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 3500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Utilisation

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

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/eurasian-skylark-alauda-arvensis on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.