Lark

Lark, common name for about 90 species of small songbirds, all of which are found in Eurasia. They are not colourful birds; most are streaked with black, brown, and buff above, with white or buff underparts, streaked or not. Their long hind claws account for the flower name “larkspur” (a delphinium). The males of many species have beautiful, prolonged flight songs. Of these the most famous is the Eurasian skylark, which is about 17 cm (7 in) long. Other well-known European larks include the wood lark, so called because it is one of the few species that perches in trees; the aptly named crested lark; the shore lark of northern European tundra; the Mediterranean short-toed lark; and the calandra lark, a larger species with a pale, finch-like bill.

Larks are characterized anatomically by the back of the tarsus (heel) being rounded and thickly scaled. Most have relatively slender bills, but bill shape in the family ranges from finch-like in the sparrow larks to long and curved in the hoopoe larks. In some of the desert species, populations have evolved that have back colours exactly matching the colour of the sand on which they live. Larks feed on insects and other small invertebrates, as well as on seeds, depending on the season. They nest on the ground, using plant stems, bark, leaves, grass, and feathers to construct an open cup-shaped nest, in which two to six spotted eggs are laid. The northernmost species are migratory; the skylark, for example, winters in North Africa and northern India.

Scientific classification: Larks make up the family Alaudidae of the order Passeriformes. The Eurasian skylark is classified as Alauda arvensis, the wood lark as Lullula arborea, the crested lark as Galerida cristata, the shore lark as Eremophila alpestris, the short-toed lark as Calandrella brachdactyla, and the calandra lark as Melanocorypha calandra.