Larks

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Larks
Skylark (Alauda arvensis)

Skylark ( Alauda arvensis )

Systematics
Subclass : New-jawed birds (Neognathae)
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
without rank: Passerida
Superfamily : Sylvioidea
Family : Larks
Scientific name
Alaudidae
Vigors , 1825
Crested lark
( Galerida cristata )
Woodlark
( Lullula arborea )

The larks (Alaudidae) are a species-rich family in the order of the passerine birds (Passeriformes), subordinate to songbirds (Passeres). The family includes more than 90 species . The singing of many species is melodious and is performed with great vehemence by high-seat guards near the ground or while singing. In European culture, poets like Shakespeare , Blake or Shelley and musicians celebrated the song of the skylark in particular . In Italian usage, the beauty of the calender lark's song is proverbial.

Larks are small songbirds that have brownish plumage throughout, usually with line drawings. They are ground breeders who defend a territory. Their living space is open landscapes. Many species are inhabitants of arid to semi-arid habitats. A number of the species are resident birds , others are line or migratory birds .

The majority of the species occurs in Africa, with Asia being another main area of ​​distribution. In America, however, only the ear lark is native. The Horsfield lark is the only representative of the fauna of Australia , but the skylark was introduced on the Australian continent .

A total of eleven species are native to Europe. The avifauna of Central Europe include skylark and woodlark . Crested Lark and Short-toed Lark . The short-toed lark is a breeding bird of the arid areas in the south of the Palearctic , whose breeding area extends from northwest Africa to Central Asia. It breeds in small numbers in Hungary and Slovakia. It is forecast for this species that its Central European range will increase by the end of the 21st century. The stocks of the crested lark, on the other hand, are declining drastically in some cases and some Central European populations are now completely extinct. Unfavorable climatic causes play a role, but obviously also lack of food and habitat loss. It is dependent on open, dry, warm areas with low and patchy vegetation, which it finds less and less in the cultural landscape of Central Europe. Field and woodlark are also finding less and less suitable breeding areas due to the increasing sealing of the landscape and the extensive abandonment of extensive grazing on poor meadows.

features

height

Steppe lark
Horned Lark
( Eremophila bilopha )
Well camouflaged short-toed lark

Larks are small to medium-sized ground-dwelling birds. Their body length is between 10 and 23 centimeters. The smallest larks include the white-fronted lark , which occurs from Africa to northwest India, and in which adult females occasionally have a body length of only 10 centimeters, as well as the 11.5 centimeter long harlequin lark , which is native to East Africa . The smallest Central European lark is the woodlark with a body length of about 15 centimeters. The crested lark, on the other hand, reaches a length of 17 to 19 centimeters.

The two largest are the kinds Lerch from the Cape Verde Islands occurring to the west of India hoopoe lark and the swamp lark , a characteristic species of the Tibetan plateau . According to these differences in body size, larks weigh between 11 and 53 grams.

Camouflaging plumage

Larks are mostly inconspicuous, earth-colored and in most species not differently colored according to sex. The most contrasting drawings among the larks are found in the horned and eared lark, which are often referred to as the most beautiful lark species because of their black and white face masks.

On the upper side of the body, larks are colored from sand to grayish to brownish and often have dense dotted lines, which are created by feather edges of different colors, dark feathers and mostly dark shaft lines. The underside of the body is lighter and ranges from white to cream to light rust tones. The underside of the body also shows dotted lines in most species, but these are often limited to the chest and head area. Basically, the dashed lines are less pronounced in species whose habitat has little vegetation than in the species which occur in habitats dominated by grasses.

Larks are usually well camouflaged due to their plumage. In many species, the upper side of the plumage corresponds to the soil color of their range. This is particularly pronounced in the predominantly occurring in Africa Mirafra species, but also to Central Asia occurring in numerous subspecies of North Africa front Desert Lark has a plumage that conforms to each ground color in particular. The plumage of the individual subspecies of the stone lark varies depending on the habitat from light sand tones to dark slate gray in the subspecies Ammomanes desserti annae, which occurs in Jordan on the black lava desert . The good camouflage provided by the plumage, which is typical for most species of lark, is reinforced by certain behaviors in the event of danger: they either remain motionless and can then hardly be seen in the vicinity of their habitat or seek protection in the low vegetation. The camouflage can be so pronounced that the presence of larks is often only noticeable by the singing of the males.

The differences in the plumage of the individual species are often only slight: in some cases the color of the tail feathers is an essential distinguishing feature. Some species can only be identified by their song or the behavior of the male during or after the singing flight.

Compared to the adults, juveniles have a slightly more contrasting plumage. With them, the feather ends are often lighter or the feather hems are wider.

Gender dimorphism

Sex dimorphism in the gray teller: left female, right male

Most species of larks have no or only a very slight sexual dimorphism in their plumage . Females are typically a little more dull in color and slightly smaller and lighter. The exceptions among the larks include the crackers , thrush and red ruff and several species of the genus Eremopterix . In the case of the crackler lark, the female is drawn a little paler overall and the markings on the underside of the body are a little more brown. The same applies to the thrush larch. In the case of the Rotbürzellerche, the female looks more reddish on the upper side of the body because the red-brown fringes of the wings of the hand are more pronounced in the females.

In the majority of the Eremopterix species, the difference is significantly more pronounced than in the above-mentioned species. Apart from the Hovalerche , the males of this genus have black facial markings, which are absent in the inconspicuously brownish-colored females.

beak

The shape of the beak Lerchen ranges from a Kernbeißer similar conical beak in the cracker Lerche to the long and thin beaks of the rotor Lerchen . Most species have a slender beak , with the beak length usually being shorter than the head length. The species with a more powerful beak, such as the calender lark or the Mirafra species, are predominantly seed-eaters. Species with medium-sized beaks, as is typical of the crested lark or the skylark, feed on small seeds and insects. The species with very slender beaks, as is the case with the woodlark or the horned lark, feed mainly on insects and only eat seeds in winter. The nostrils are completely exposed in the species of the genus Mirafra , Pinarocorys , Certhilauda and Alaemon , in the other genera they are covered with small feathers.

Wings and tail

White-breasted Lark

The wings of the larks are relatively long and wide. They have 10 hand wings and, unlike most songbirds, which usually have nine arm wings, at least 10 arm wings. The species of the genus Certhilauda even have 11 arm wings.

The tail is short to medium long and ends straight in most species. They have a total of 12 tail feathers. In many species the middle pair of control feathers is colored differently than the rest of the tail plumage.

Locomotion

Larks don't hop on the ground, they run - that is, they alternately put their legs forward without both feet leaving the ground at the same time. They reach speeds of up to 7 km / h and move faster than any other European songbird species. As with all songbirds, three toes point forward and one backward. The lark's long and strong rear toe is an adaptation to their ground-dwelling way of life. The shape of the rear claw - curved or straight - as well as the length in comparison to the rear toe is one of the features by which species are differentiated, among other things.

When flying, the legs are drawn towards the chest so that they disappear into the plumage and the back of the leg points towards the ground. The strongly curved front toes and the claw of the rear toe are directed towards the tail. Some species only let their legs droop when singing. One of the special features of the larks is that the back of the barrel is divided into four-sided signs.

The way the larks fly varies greatly. Compared to the beeper , with which the larks share many characteristics in habitus, their flight is heavier, noisier and more wide-winged.

singing

features

Singing red-necked lark
( Mirafra africana )
Singing steppe lark
( Calendulauda africanoides )
Singing skylark
( Alauda arvensis )

The song of many species of lark is very melodious and performed with great vehemence. Quite a few species are so-called "scoffers" and pick up the voices of other bird species in their environment. The mock lark, for example, melodically combines the voices of several bird species. So far it has been possible to identify the imitation of 57 other bird species from 20 different genera in this species. The Sabotalerche, which is native to Africa like the mock lark , even imitates the calls of 60 other bird species.

Larks also imitate the noises of their surroundings: the case of a crested lark is known , which imitated the whistles of a shepherd with which he gave commands to his dogs. The lark mimicked these whistles so perfectly that the dogs followed. Other larks in the neighborhood also added these calls to their repertoire.

Singflug

Often the song is performed by the male in flight. Typical for larks is a steep ascent with fast wing beats and singing without interruption. Individual species of lark reach considerable heights: For example, the Ogadenlark , which occurs in East Africa, climbs up to 100 meters during its singing flight. The Falblerche , native to southern West Africa , occasionally reaches heights of up to 200 meters when singing. Other species of lark, on the other hand, remain significantly lower: the Zirplerche, which occurs in southern Africa, rises only two meters in height before it glides back to the ground with its steeply set wings, floating and singing.

If the singing male has reached a sufficient height, it often turns into a circling singing show flight, in which it remains at the same height without changing the flapping of the wings or singing and slowly circles over its territory. There are species in which this singing show flight lasts up to 25 minutes. Then the larks slowly slide down again with their often motionless and completely outstretched wings. The singing continues. Other species drop more abruptly and steeply from their singing height and intercept the flight close to the ground. The gray teller , which shows a singing flight, which is initially reminiscent of a skylark, drops abruptly from about 30 meters, but does not land, but shows a series of leaps in the air. Up to 40 air jumps were counted over a distance of 100 meters. Only then does the landing take place on a stone or a lump of earth.

Many species also have a floor song, which is performed from the stand guard. In some species, such as the white-breasted lark , the singing flight is rare. Instead, it is almost always performed by the tallest branch of a tree or bush in this species.

Some larks also sing their songs on moonlit nights.

Instrumental sounds

Some species from the genera Mirafra and Chersophilus produce clattering and rattling instrumental sounds in addition to the singing by clapping the wings over the back during this exhibition flight . In the case of the grass and tree rattle lark , these instrumental sounds are so typical of their singing flight that they even give it their name.

distribution and habitat

Tibetan Lark

Main areas of distribution are Africa and Asia. Africa has the largest number of species. All genera of the family occur on this continent with at least one species. In North America only one species lives with the ear lark . The Horsfield lark occurs from Southeast Asia to Australia and is thus the only naturally occurring species of lark in Australia. However, the skylark was also introduced on the Australian continent .

Larks are diurnal birds that predominantly populate deserts, semi-deserts, steppes, forest steppes and tundras. Only the marsh lark ( Melanocorypha maxima ) occurs on alpine moors and wet bank meadows. According to Rudolf Pätzold, the species Giant Marsh Lark and Tibetan Lark that occur in Central Asia are the only species that pass through shallow water. The habitat specialists include the Namibian Lark , a character species of the Namib Desert, and the Obbial Lark , which only occurs in a strip just 2.5 kilometers wide, but 570 kilometers long, along the Somali coast. Some species have very small ranges, including many species of the genus Calendulauda . For example, the red dune lark in Namibia only occurs from the village of Aus in a northerly direction to Walvis Bay .

Reproduction

Breeding season and defense of the territory

Nest and clutch of the Raso Lark
Gray whiskey feeds nestlings

The Palearctic species usually breed from March to June. In the tropics and southern Africa, the breeding season depends on the onset of the rainy season. A few species do not breed every year. The Karoolerche, which occurs in the semi-deserts of southern Africa, does not breed in years with little rainfall. Something similar is suspected for the Barlow lark , which also occurs in southern Africa .

The males defend a territory against conspecifics and occasionally against related species. With some of the African species, the males occupy a territory all year round, the other species only defend a territory during the breeding season. Behavior in defense of the territory includes imposing and threatening behavior and chasing away. In contrast, direct fighting between larks is rare. Singing from the ground, from an elevated control room or singing flight is an indirect area-defending behavior. The marsh lark that occurs in Central Asia shows an extremely aggressive defensive behavior . It attacks other bird species such as redshank , plovers and seagulls while swooping and shows such aggressive behavior towards sheep, yaks and humans.

Larks mate on the ground. Mating is preceded by a courtship in which the male woos the female with prancing and jumping movements.

nest

Larks are ground breeders. The nest is cup-shaped and is often located in a hollow in the ground, which is protected by tufts of grass, clods of earth or stones. Only a few species occasionally build their nests in low bushes. The clutches usually contain between two and five eggs. They are usually white to gray in base color and have darker speckles and spots. The largest eggs within the family of larks sets the swamp lark: Your eggs correspond in size to those of a song thrush and have a fresh full weight of 5.7 grams. Eggs with a fresh full weight between two and three grams are more typical for larks. In most species, only the female breeds. The incubation period is between 11 and 13 days. Both parent birds are involved in feeding the young birds. The nestling period is eight to ten days.

Larks and humans

In Low German, the bird was also called Löweneckerchen ; The designation has survived in the Grimm version of the fairy tale The singing jumping little lion . The Dutch name Leeuweriken refers to the same word components . This animal is stylized in the city ​​logo and coat of arms of Lörrach . Blazon: "In red above a rising golden (yellow) lark." In Bechstein's fairy tale Des Hundes Not a cunning lark appears.

Larks are rarely kept as caged birds. An exception is the Mongolian Lark, which inserts the calls of numerous other bird species into their song. Even in the 1920s it was traded in large numbers at bird markets in Beijing and was known as the "Hundred Melodies" because of its varied singing.

Skylarks also serve as food .

Genera and species

Bengal Lark
( Mirafra assamica )
Horsfield Lark
( Mirafra javanica )
Klapper tree Lerche
( Mirafra rufocinnamomea )
Swiss pine
( Chersomanes albofasciata )
Sandpiper Lark
( Alaemon alaudipes )
Stone Lark
( Ammomanes deserti )
Calender Lark
( Melanocorypha calandra )
Short-toed Lark
( Calandrella brachydactyla )
Stummelche
( Calandrella rufescens )
Malabar Lark
( Galerida malabarica )
Little skylark
( Alauda gulgula )
Ear lark
( Eremophila alpestris )

The following genera and species belong to the larks:

Phylogeny

In 2013, Per Alström and colleagues investigated the relationship between larks in a large study by comparing the sequence of several homologous DNA segments. They found that the genus Calandrella would be paraphyletic in the usual delimitation . According to their results, the previous genus consists of two groups of species. For those that do not contain the type species Calandrella brachydactyla , they reactivated the old genus name Alaudala Horsfield & Moore, which was previously considered a synonym , in 1856 (type species: Calandrella raytal ). Accordingly, four species should be transferred to this genus as Alaudala rufescens , Alaudala cheleensis , Alaudala raytal and Alaudala athensis . This change has already been adopted in many cases. However, a more recent study from 2016 found an unstable phylogeny and raised doubts about the monophyly of some species. It can only be said with certainty that the genus Calandrella needs a revision .

literature

  • Jennifer Ackerman: The Genius of Birds . Corsair, London 2016, ISBN 978-1-4721-1437-2 .
  • Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel, Wolfgang Fiedler (eds.): The compendium of birds in Central Europe: Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Volume 2: Passeriformes - passerine birds. Aula-Verlag Wiebelsheim, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-89104-648-0 .
  • CJO Harrison (Ed.): Birdfamilies of the World . Phaidon Press, Oxford 1978, ISBN 0-7290-0034-6 .
  • Brian Huntley, Rhys E. Green, Yvonne C. Collingham, Stephen G. Willis: A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds. Durham University, The RSPB and Lynx Editions, Barcelona 2007, ISBN 978-84-96553-14-9 .
  • Rudolf Pätzold: Compendium of Larks. All the larks on earth. Jan-Schimkat-Medienpublikation, Dresden 2003, ISBN 3-00-011219-7 .
  • Rudolf Pätzold: The larks of the world . Westarp Sciences, Magdeburg 1994, ISBN 3-89432-422-8 .

Web links

Commons : Larks  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Lark  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Percy Bysshe Shelley: Ode to a Skylark , accessed January 14, 2017
  2. ↑ a b c d Harrison (Ed.): Birdfamilies of the World . P. 188.
  3. ↑ Pätzold: The larks of the world . P. 33.
  4. ^ Huntley et al., P. 284.
  5. ↑ a b Pätzold: The larks of the world . P. 24.
  6. ↑ Pätzold: The larks of the world . P. 160.
  7. ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World zur Heidelerche , accessed on March 13, 2017
  8. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 232.
  9. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 186.
  10. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 212.
  11. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 32.
  12. ↑ Harrison (Ed.): Birdfamilies of the World . P. 189.
  13. ↑ Pätzold: The larks of the world . P. 28.
  14. ↑ a b Pätzold: The larks of the world . P. 29.
  15. ↑ Pätzold: The larks of the world . P. 44.
  16. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 119.
  17. ↑ Jennifer Ackerman: The Genius of Birds . Corsair, London 2016, ISBN 978-1-4721-1437-2 . P. 129
  18. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 113.
  19. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 288.
  20. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 144.
  21. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 164.
  22. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 235.
  23. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 268.
  24. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 292.
  25. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 141.
  26. ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World zur Karoolerche , accessed on March 26, 2017
  27. ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on the Barlow Lark , accessed on March 26, 2017
  28. ↑ Pätzold: The larks of the world . P. 30.
  29. ↑ a b Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 234.
  30. ↑ Pätzold: The larks of the world . P. 31.
  31. ^ Entry in the Grimm dictionary
  32. ^ Pätzold: Compendium of Larks . P. 231.
  33. ↑ Avibase zur Ostklapperlerche , accessed on January 14, 2017
  34. ↑ Avibase on Burmalerche , accessed on January 14, 2017
  35. ↑ Avibase on Indochinalerche , accessed on January 14, 2017
  36. ^ Per Alström: Taxonomy of the Mirafra assamica complex . In: Forktail . 13, 1998, pp. 97-107. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  37. ↑ Avibase zur Jerdonlerche , accessed on January 14, 2017
  38. ↑ Avibase zur Karoolerche , accessed on March 6, 2017
  39. ↑ Per Alström, Keith N. Barnes, Urban Olsson, F. Keith Barker, Paulette Bloomer, Aleem Ahmed Khan, Masood Ahmed Qureshi, Alban Guillaumet, Pierre-André Crochet, Peter G. Ryan (2013): Multilocus phylogeny of the avian family Alaudidae (larks) reveals complex morphological evolution, non-monophyletic genera and hidden species diversity. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69 (3): 1043-1056. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2013.06.005
  40. ↑ George Sangster, J. Martin Collinson, Pierre-André Crochet, Guy M. Kirwan, Alan G. Knox, David T. Parkin, Stephen C. Votier (2014): Taxonomic recommendations for Western Palaearctic birds: 10th report. Ibis 157: 193-200. doi : 10.1111 / ibi.12221
  41. ↑ Martin Stervander, Per Alström, Urban Olsson, Ulf Ottosson, Bengt Hansson, Staffan Bensch (2016): Multiple instances of paraphyletic species and cryptic taxa revealed by mitochondrial and nuclear RAD data for Calandrella larks (Aves: Alaudidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 102: 233-245. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2016.05.032