Alauda

Alauda
Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis) Song of Eurasian skylark
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Alaudidae
Genus:	Alauda Linnaeus, 1758
Species
A. arvensis A. gulgula A. razae

Alauda is a genus of larks with four species found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands.

These birds are 14–18 cm long and live in cultivation, heath, natural steppe and other open habitats. The long, unbroken song is a clear, bubbling warble delivered high in the air while the bird is rising, circling or hovering.^[1] They are fairly undistinguished: streaked brown above and pale below, with a short, blunt, erectile crest. In flight, they display a short tail and short broad wings. The tail and the rear edge of the wings are edged with white.

Their diet consists of seeds, supplemented with insects in the breeding season. They nest on the ground in tufts of grass, with three to six eggs per clutch. They form flocks when not breeding.

Species in taxonomic order

• Eurasian skylark, Alauda arvensis
  • Japanese skylark, Alauda a. japonica
• Oriental skylark, Alauda gulgula
• Raso lark, Alauda razae

Fossil record

• Alauda xerarvensis (late Pliocene of Varshets, Bulgaria)^[2]
• Alauda tivadari (late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary)^[3]

Musical references

• Alouette (song)
• Ciocârlia (lăutăresc tune)

In literature

• To a Skylark, a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley

References

1. Young, Geoffrey (1985). The Sunday Times Countryside Companion. Country Life Books. p. 145. ISBN 0-600-35729-5.
2. Boev, Z. 2012. Neogene Larks (Aves: Alaudidae (Vigors, 1825)) from Bulgaria - Acta zoologica bulgarica, 64 (3), 2012: 295-318.
3. Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149.

• Mullarney, Svensson, Zetterstrom and Grant, Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0-00-219728-6