February

Woodlark

I have never described myself as a ‘list-ticker-twitcher’. I don’t race out the door with my binos in hand, travelling miles and miles when told that an unexpected species has turned up in the country. I prefer to be out on my own, at work, admiring all the species around me, from the little brown jobbies (LBJ) in the hedge to the huge sea eagle that is on the coast at the moment.

I am not saying list tickers don’t admire the species that they see and that I don’t get excited to see something rare, but I definitely can say that I saviour every experience however unexpected or common it may be, relishing that encounter, and I always want to know more about the ecology of the species and share that with friends, even if they do roll their eyes at my geeky ‘fun-facts’, which happened recently...

I was stood out in the field last week with friends, and I could hear a very distinctive loud and proud lilting song of a woodlank (Lullula arborea) coming from some tall trees in the distance. With much excitement I told everyone around me, demonstrating the song so they could listen out and explained they were unusual where we were, but I think I found it more interesting than them!

The woodlark is a secretive species of lark, which can be hard to spot. It is mostly a resident species that is here all year around, favouring open, dry habitats with short grasses. However, it is most notable from February and March.

So, what do they look like?

The woodlark is a LBJ! It is a small, stripy, brown bird, between 13.5 and 15 centimetres long, with a pale underside, a buff-white eyestripe and a spikey crest on its head. It has a distinctly short, white-tipped tail and a bouncing flight pattern. The similar skylark is about 20% larger, with a longer tail, and prefers farmland and grassland habitats.

The woodlark is one of the few birds in the UK with a supercilium, the stripe above the eye, that meets in a V at the back of the head.

Where to see it

Woodlark are found across most of Europe, the Middle East, western Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident (non-migratory) in the west of its range, but eastern populations of this passerine bird are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Woodlarks have a patchy distribution in the UK, from the heaths of East Yorkshire to East Anglia, the New Forest, parts of Hampshire and Dartmoor. It is not found in Ireland. They breed in eastern and southern England, including in the New Forest and Breckland, and overwinter in the south and southwest of the country.

Song

The woodlark has a beautiful, tumbling song. It’s quite distinctive when you get your ear in, and they generally sing very loudly from tall, scattered trees and woodland edges or suspended in the air.

Gilbert White (1720-1793), writer and parson-naturalist who is widely regarded as the ‘father of ecology’, outlined the first principles of ecology, noting that all nature was connected from the lowly earthworm to humankind, the soil to the birds in the sky. He noted in his studies that both woodlarks and skylarks were among a select number of species that sang as they flew. But he also observed that skylarks rose and fell perpendicularly as they sang, whereas woodlarks hung poised in the air, which makes them different.

Feeding and breeding

They feed mainly on seeds and move to farmland stubbles for the autumn and early winter, also feeding on insects in the breeding season. Woodlark usually nest within a grassy tussocks or heather, often digging a shallow scrape and laying 3-5 eggs, which are incubated by the female for 14 days.

Did you know?

• Woodlark, Lullula arborea – the specific arborea is from Latin arbor, arboris, ‘tree’
• The typical lifespan is 3 years but the maximum age from ringing is 7 years and 2 months

More sensitive management of surviving heathland in recent years has seen woodlarks stage a comeback. At the last nationwide estimate in 2016, according to the British Trust for Ornithology, there were 2,300 breeding pairs, a considerable increase — although the species’ core breeding areas were confined to East Anglia, the heaths of the Thames Basin, the New Forest area and Devon. Things may continue to improve, as there are indications that woodlarks enjoy milder winters. So, keep your ear tuned into to a sweet tumbling song while you are out these coming weeks, and you might chance to hear and see this wonderful LBJ!