Gillings, S . 2001. Factors affecting the distribution of Skylarks Alauda arvensis wintering in Britain and Ireland during the early 1980s. Donald, P.F. and Vickery, J.A. (eds). In The ecology and conservation of skylarks Alauda arvensis, pp 115-128. RSPB, Sandy.

Abstract

1. This paper investigates the factors affecting the distribution of skylarks wintering in Britain and Ireland using count data collected by volunteers for the British Trust for Ornithology/Irish Wildbird Conservancy Atlas of Wintering Birds, during the three winters 1981/82 to 1983/84.

2. Occupied 10-km squares were at lower altitude and contained more lowland landscape types than unoccupied squares. An analysis of agricultural statistics showed that skylarks were associated more with arable farmland than pastoral farmland, even in areas predominantly managed for grazing. These analyses confirmed that the skylark is very much a species of arable farmland during winter.

3. Skylark distribution was quantified for half-month periods to assess the species' response to severe winter weather. Skylark distribution varied markedly between and within winters, with suggestions of influxes in December 1981 and January 1984 and a mass exodus in January 1982.