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BTO Blueline
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BTO Blueline
WOODLARK
Lullula arborea

Woodlark © Derek Belsey
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: SPEC category 2 (depleted)
UK: red (>50% distribution decline)
Long-term trend
UK: increase
UK population size
1,426–1,552 pairs in 1997 (Wotton & Gillings 2000: APEP06, rounded to 1,400–1,600 BiE04)
Status summary
This species is too rare and restricted in range for population changes to be monitored annually by BTO observers. A 62% reduction in the number of 10-km squares occupied between 1968–72 and 1988–91 warranted red-listing on grounds of range contraction; the species had ceased to breed in Wales and in several southern English counties over this period (Gibbons et al. 1993). Sitters et al. (1996) report that the population increased from c.250 pairs in 1986 to c.600 pairs in 1993, probably helped by recent mild winters and increased habitat availability due to storm damage in plantations, forest restocking, and heathland management. A new national survey in 1997 showed that the population had increased further, accompanied by expansion of the range into new areas (Wotton & Gillings 2000; for more information, click here). Nest failure rates at the egg stage have declined markedly.
 

Population changes
Annual breeding population changes for this species are not currently monitored by BTO
 

Productivity trends
Clutch size graph
Brood size graph
Egg nest failure graph
Chick nest failure graph

Laying date graph

 

 

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species

 
 

Additional information
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BirdWeb logo, click to go to BirdWeb

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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Coombes, R.H.,
Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2006)
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2005.
BTO Research Report No. 435. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 2 May, 2006