BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Skylark

SKYLARK
Alauda arvensis

• Population
changes

• Productivity
trends

• Additional
information

Conservation listings

Europe: SPEC category 3 (depleted)
UK: red (species level, race arvensis); amber (race scotica, >20% of European breeders)
UK Biodiversity Action Plan: click here

Long-term trend

England: rapid decline

UK population size

1,785,000 territories in 2000 (1988–91 Atlas estimate updated using CBC/BBS trend: BiE04, APEP06); 801,000–1,003,000 pairs in Britain in 1997 (Browne et al. 2000)

Status summary

The Skylark declined rapidly from the mid 1970s until the mid 1980s, when the rate of decline slowed; more recent data show further decline, however, at least in England. Considerable effort by BTO and other researchers in recent years has indicated that the most likely cause of the decline is the change to autumn sowing of cereals: this practice restricts opportunities for late-season nesting attempts, because the crop is by then too tall, and may depress overwinter survival by reducing the area of stubbles (Wilson et al. 1997, Donald & Vickery 2000, 2001; for more information, click here). Chamberlain & Siriwardena (2000) have provided a general review of the effects of agricultural practice on Skylark population trends. More recently, Gillings et al. (2005) have identified better population performance in areas with extensive winter stubble, presumably because overwinter survival is relatively high. Breeding success per nesting attempt increased during the steepest period of decline (Chamberlain & Crick 1999, Siriwardena et al. 2000b), but since 2000 has shown signs of reversal. Leaving small, rectangular patches of bare ground ('Skylark plots') within autumn-sown cereals appears to provide many of the benefits of spring-sown cereals at very low cost to the farmer (Donald & Morris 2005). Numbers have fallen steeply across in Europe since 1980 (PECBMS 2009).

1967-2007: -60% (confidence interval -68% to -53%)

Population changes in detail

Demographic trends

More on demographic trends

Additional information


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G., Barimore, C., Downie, I.S., Grantham, M.J., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2010). Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2009. BTO Research Report No. 541. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 18.01.2010